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COVER Inside A TALE OF TIME AND EXPENSE STORMY WATERS DUEL OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS Old school journalism. 21st century delivery. THE SARASOTA News LeaderThe Progressive Voice Of Southwest Florida November 30, 2012

Even without a calendar, I would know the holiday season is upon us by the sheer volume of email that pops up in my inbox each day. Of course, the fact that we will be starting Season after the holiday season adds a geometric multiplicative factor to that other email more arts and entertainment, more fundraisers, more everything! Each week, one of my responsibilities is determining what goes into the News Briefs. Some of that selection process is pegged to timing (and, I confess, memory). Because our deadline is Thursday, items that came in the preceding Thursday or Friday end up that much further down in the email list for the next week, if they didnt already get transferred to the News Briefs. I do try to capture items as they come in and start a document for the next weeks briefs, but that effort easily can get pushed aside as my attention is called to nal page proofs. My primary goal with the News Briefs is provid ing you with a good mix of topics. In my previous roles as an editor for print publications, we often grabbed news releases for use as llers. Some are still quite helpful for that purpose. However, I do try to give good play to items that are not big enough to stand alone as news sto ries, yet are important enough that they should catch your attention. I also like to think that throwing in a story about a robbery behind a city announcement about a street closing, for example, keeps you looking through the whole News Briefs sec tion, just to see what you can spy. In that re spect, you might think of the section in terms of mining for gemstones: Not every pebble is going to show promise, but you should nd at least one gem or two every time. Editor and Publisher WELCOME

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COVER PHOTOS: Front Norman Schimmel; Sarasota Leisure Robert Hackney STORMY WATERS BYE-BYE UNIFORM STANDARDSNEWS & COMMENTARYA TALE OF TIME AND EXPENSE 11 Analysis: A Siesta architect says the public beach improvements can be done for $13 million; News Leader research shows milestones set for the consultants called for the project to be ready for bids by January 2013 Rachel Brown Hackney STORMY WATERS 17 North Port Commission puts the brakes on Warm Mineral Springs redevelopment Cooper Levey-Baker DUEL OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS 20 Analysis: City ofcials strike back after American Civil Liberties Union chapter reveals bumhunting police emails Stan Zimmerman BYE-BYE UNIFORM STANDARDS 23 Each of the City of Sarasotas parking districts soon may see its own specic regulations, following recent changes on St. Armands Stan Zimmerman JUST ABOVE FAILING 26 Florida earns a D for its premature birth stats Cooper Levey-Baker FIGHTING FOR CHICKEN FEED 27 Downtown Sarasota organizations squabble over use of $20,000 in marketing funds and their own existence Stan Zimmerman CITY COMMISSION PREVIEW 29 Trespassing ordinance, reopening Osprey Avenue in the area of the stalled lift station work, Laurel Park overlay district and City Island leases on the agenda Stan Zimmerman ROOM TO ROAM 31 Audubon Society launches kids program to combat nature decit disorder Cooper Levey-Baker ANOTHER GO AT IT 33 After reaching an impasse with the original contractor, the County Commission votes to try again to restore a section of Palmer Point Park Rachel Brown Hackney SOLID SHOW OF SUPPORT 37 Hundreds rally for Israel in its ght against Hamas Staff Reports NEWS BRIEFS 41 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ARTISTS SHOWING OFF CAPTIVATING CATS OPINIONEDITORIAL 51 For homeless, Sarasota is a Town Without Pity LETTER TO THE EDITOR 53 Keep aggressive dogs under controlSARASOTA LEISURE ARTISTS SHOWING OFF 55 Art Center Sarasota and the Closet team up for the nal installment of Chrch!!! with local music and art Tyler Whitson ASK OTUS 61 The lovely Great Egrets have quite the robust appetite, as the great naturalist Audubon learned Otus Rufous LIGHTING UP THE VILLAGE 64 Crowd welcomes the holiday season to Siesta Key Staff Reports CAPTIVATING CATS 73 Thanks to a Sarasota County Technical Institute class, students get to preserve extra special memories at Big Cat Habitat Harriet Cuthbert SIESTA SEEN 77 Siesta woman sets up lost pet hotline; countys coastal resources manager discusses RESTORE Act and Turtle Beach Rachel Brown Hackney ARTS BRIEFS 82 RELIGION BRIEFS 92 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 95 SCHIMMEL SIGHTINGS 96

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A TALE OF TIME AND EXPENSE Analysis: A Siesta architect says the public beach improvements can be done for $13 million; News Leader research shows milestones set for the consultants called for the project to be ready for bids by January 2013 Rachel Brown Hackney Siesta Key architect Mark Smith believes the improvements at the public beach can be completed for $13 million or $14 million, he told The Sarasota News Leader this week about $3 million less than the amount the Sarasota County Commission approved on Sept. 14, 2011. His gure is about $14 million less than the $27 million estimate a staff member mentioned to the board early this month. Commissioner Nora Patterson, who lives on Siesta Key, facilitated Smiths efforts to speak with representatives of the countys consultants on the project, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. and Sweet Sparkman Architects. Smith had volunteered to undertake a review of the project cost estimates, on behalf of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and other island organi zations, so he could offer a professional opinion to the commission on the ballooning expenses. ( Full story here ) STORMY WATERS North Port Commission puts the brakes on Warm Mineral Springs redevelopment Cooper Levey-Baker The North Port City Commission slammed the brakes on a process designed to solicit ideas to redevelop Warm Miner al Springs during an adversarial and, at times, downright snide public meeting held Monday, Nov. 26. The commission gathered to consider going forward with an Invitation to Negotiate, which would allow private developers to put forward their ideas for how to redevelop Warm Mineral Springs, the 87-degree Fountain of Youth jointly purchased by North Port and Sarasota County in 2010. The Invitation to Negotiate process was set in motion in July during a joint city-county meeting, at which both commissions unanimously voted to be gin soliciting long-term plans for the property. But that plan came to a halt Monday, when the North Port commission led by Mayor Linda Yates and two newly elected commissioners shot down a motion to approve the Invitation to Negotiate. ( Full story here ) TOP STORIES AT A GLANCE

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DUEL OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS Analysis: City ofcials strike back after American Civil Liberties Union chapter reveals bum-hunting police emails Stan Zimmerman The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida held a City Hall lawn press conference Tuesday morning, Nov. 27. Local chapter Legal Chairman Michael Bareld blasted the Sarasota Police Department for what he called a cul ture of contempt and disrespect for the citys homeless. Bareld was working from a 98-page compendium of police text messag es sent between cruisers. He has led suit in federal court over the citys treatment of the homeless. On Tuesday, he handed out excerpts from the text messages. One was an exchange on Aug. 7 between 10:11 and 10:17 p.m. between two ofcers. ( Full story here ) BYE-BYE UNIFORM STANDARDS Each of the City of Sarasotas parking districts soon may see its own specic regulations, following recent changes on St. Armands Stan Zimmerman It took only one crack in the dike to send a ood over the City Commissions policy of uniform parking regulations for the entire city. That crack was created by St. Armands Key merchants. Their squeals of pain caused the commissioners to declare unconditional surrender on Nov. 19 and allow that shopping district to revert to age-old regulations. On Nov. 28, the citys Parking Committee heard Parking Manager Mark Lyons say all eight of the citys parking districts will soon be considered for individual regulations. The uniform policy is dead, dead, dead. ( Full story here ) facebook.com/SarasotaNewsLeader

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JUST ABOVE FAILING Florida earns a D for its premature birth stats Cooper Levey-Baker Florida earned a D in a recently released premature birth report card issued by the March of Dimes, reecting the states high rate of premature births. That rate has actually dipped in recent years, but not enough to get the state up to the national average. Sarasotas Healthy Start Coalition is bringing attention to the poor grade and promoting prevention with its Think 39 Weeks! campaign. The push emphasizes the health benets of a full-term 39-week pregnancy, with a long list of positive factors for both the mother and the child. That information needs to get out. In a statewide Healthy Start survey, nearly half of respondents said deliveries earlier than 37 weeks were safe. ( Full story here ) FIGHTING FOR CHICKEN FEED Downtown Sarasota organizations squabble over use of $20,000 in marketing funds and their own existence Stan Zimmerman The Downtown Sarasota Alliance put on a show of force Tuesday morning, Nov. 27. The members were out to con vince the Downtown Improvement District board to con tinue providing a $20,000 marketing grant to the DSA. They faced stiff opposition from the new Sarasota Downtown Merchants Association, and its chairman, Ron Soto. The whole reason we got started was because the DSA put up all kinds of hoops some on re for our Dog Days of Summer [event], he said. The DSA recently sent out an email saying all the Christmas decorations were the work of the DSA. But we paid for them, and we repainted them, and we did that ourselves. ( Full story here ) For Advertising Info Sales@SarasotaNewsLeader.com (941) 227-1080

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This may take a while. Some things are just hard to resist. Like The Sarasota News Leader Its a feast of indepth local news, delightful and entertaining features, and thanks to its partnership with This Week In Sarasota access to the best community calendar available. The rst impulse is just to gobble it all up. But its better to take it slow and relish every news morsel. Theres no rush. You have a whole week. SarasotaNewsLeader.com Old school journalism. 21st century delivery. The Progressive Voice of Southwest Florida

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Siesta Key architect Mark Smith believes the improvements at the public beach can be com pleted for $13 million or $14 million, he told The Sarasota News Leader this week about $3 million less than the amount the Sarasota County Com mission approved on Sept. 14, 2011. His gure is about $14 million less than the $27 million estimate a staff member men tioned to the board early this month. Commissioner Nora Patterson, who lives on Siesta Key, facili tated Smiths efforts to speak with repre sentatives of the coun tys consultants on the project, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. and Sweet Sparkman Architects. Smith had ANALYSIS: A SIESTA ARCHITECT SAYS THE PUBLIC BEACH IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE DONE FOR $13 MILLION; NEWS LEADER RESEARCH SHOWS MILESTONES SET FOR THE CONSULTANTS CALLED FOR THE PROJECT TO BE READY FOR BIDS BY JANUARY 2013 My main focus right now is bringing the cost to within our budget and making sure that we get a final project ready to go. Then we can talk about what went wrong in the process. Christine Robinson Chairwoman Sarasota County Commission By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor A TALE OF TIME AND EXPENSE Exhibit B of the amended contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., approved by the County Commission on Dec. 7, 2011, shows the milestones expected of the rm.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 12 volunteered to undertake a review of the proj ect cost estimates, on behalf of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and other island or ganizations, so he could offer a professional opinion to the commission on the ballooning expenses. Smith is chairman of the Siesta Chamber and past president of the Siesta Key Village Asso ciation. In a letter dated Nov. 26, he provided the com missioners with details and a summary of his review. That letter is expected to be part of the discussion when the commission reviews the project with staff and consultants on Dec. 11 during a regular meeting in Sarasota. The consultants estimated construction cost for the project is $14,279,597, Smith pointed out in his letter, with a contingency fund of $2,432,825, for a total of $16,712,422. His construction estimate is $13,229,597, with a contingency fund of $3,482,825, for a total of $16,712,422. The $16.7 million gure is what the commis sion authorized for the project in September 2011. Among the ndings that had disturbed him most in his discussions with the consultants, Smith told the News Leader in a Nov. 27 inter view, was the cost per square foot calculated for the project. A slide from a Dec. 7, 2011 PowerPoint presentation to the County Commission shows how the Sies ta Beach Park improvements could be completed by the fall of 2014. Image courtesy Sarasota County

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 13 The consultants told him they had used a g ure based on recent public construction in South County, Smith said, but he used a low er gure that he nonetheless characterized as generous. And I came up with a lot less for the total, Smith added. The consultants have been careful about their estimates because this is a renovation proj ect on steroids, Smith said, and things can go wrong. After all, he pointed out, plans call for the main parking lot to be redone and the historic 50-year-old pavilion to be renovated. No one has any idea what workers will nd when they tear up the parking lot, he noted. Still, Smith is rm in his belief that the consul tants are being overly cautious. His gures, he said, are good numbers, and [the consultants] agreed with me. Weve got to reset this thing, get back to mar ket prices, Smith added. With the $27 million gure and others above $16.7 million having been bandied about, he said, Perception be comes reality. When the project is put out for bids, amounts in the higher range are going to be submitted, he pointed out. A Sarasota County graphic illustration shows how the Siesta Beach Park improvements could be phased in through the 2024 scal year. Image courtesy Sarasota County

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 14 That was proven during the countys process of hiring a new maintenance contractor for Siesta Village another project with which Smith was integrally involved as chairman of the Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp. Because a county staff member estimated publicly before the County Commission that the annual expense of upkeep in Siesta Village would be about $183,000, one vendor offered a proposal in the $200,000 range when the contract nally was put out for bid at the end of May, Smith said. The company that was hired won the contract with a bid of $97,417.70, he noted. We need to put the word out: This is a $13 million project, he said of the beach improve ments. QUESTIONING OTHER FACTORS Smith also recommended in his letter to the commissioners that they seek explanation or clarication of two other, non-construction items in the project cost summary prepared by staff and presented to the board on Nov. 13: They are items CEI and CMS which are 10% and 5% of the construction budget respectful ly, he wrote. According to the commission-approved con struction budget, he added, these overhead costs total $2,506,863. He continued in the letter, My understand ing is that CEI (Construction Engineering In spection) is a process where Sarasota County hires an outside company to review the con struction drawings, assist in hiring the con tractor, oversee the construction, coordinate construction changes with the contractor and design team, and approve construction [pay ment] draw requests. Instead, Smith pointed out, county staff and the professional consultants already hired should be handling that work. Regarding CMS, or Capital Management Ser vices, expenses, Smith wrote that he under stood the $835,621 gure for the beach project covers the expense of county staff assigned to the work because it is a capital project. As a taxpayer, he continued, I need to ask, are the staff members of this group paid solely from the budgets of all Sarasota County Cap ital Projects and not from the general fund? What are their qualications? Do they lack the expertise of overseeing the construction of the Siesta Beach project, which is the justi cation why the CEI rm needs to be hired? In response to a question about the CEI ex pense, Carolyn Eastwood, program manager for the beach park improvements, told the News Leader in an email that the county does not hire a CEI rm for every project. Howev er, she wrote, for larger projects such as the Siesta Beach Park Project, the county does not have sufcient internal staff to manage a project of that magnitude and therefore hires a CEI rm to provide the oversight and man agement during the construction phase. Smith told the News Leader he spent the equivalent of four or ve days on his review of the consultants gures. It was a lot more time than I thought, he said, after adding it all up. I volunteered because I have a tendency to do that, I guess, he added with a wry chuckle.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 15 His assessment looked great, Patterson told the News Leader on Nov. 27, noting that Smith had presented it the day before to representa tives of the major island organizations during their capacity as the Presidents Council. She had attended that session, Patterson said. I thanked him profusely, she added. Referring to his $13 million gure, Patterson said, He has both the knowledge and the de tails to back it up. I think Mark did a fabu lous job for us and I am very grateful. Smith told the News Leader he plans to be present for the Dec. 11 County Commission meeting. CONTINUING CONCERNS In the meantime, Commissioner Joe Barbetta remains focused not only on the long delay in getting the design of the project completed but also on what he calls some misinforma tion out there regarding the planning. During the Sept. 14, 2011 regu lar County Commis sion meet ing when then-Proj ect Manag er Spencer Anderson submit ted an up date on the beach project, Barbetta was the most vocal about taking ad vantage of lower construction costs and in terest rates to get the design nished and put out to bid. Its taken so long, he told the News Leader on Nov. 27. In a perfect world, construction would start in May or June [2013]. Much of the site work could be completed be fore the tourist season began again in earnest in 2014, he pointed out. Referencing the minutes from the Sept. 14, 2011 meeting, Barbetta said, Our direction was pretty clear. As the News Leader reported in its Nov. 16 is sue, the commission approved the staff goal of completing the design work in the fall of 2012, with construction to get under way in 2013. Another update was to have been presented to the board in late October. However, that followup discussion did not occur until Dec. 7, 2011. At the conclusion of that presentation, the com missioners voted unan imously to approve a contract amend ment with Kim ley-Horn for final design and lim ited con struction phase ser vices for A slide from a staff presentation to the County Commission on Dec. 7, 2011 shows the next steps anticipated in the Siesta Beach improvements project. Image courtesy Sarasota County

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 16 the Siesta Beach Improvement Project, in the amount of $1,377,421.85. Exhibit B with the contract amendment in cludes a project schedule. The design at the 60 percent stage, with the cost estimate, was to be completed within 176 calendar days of the issuance of the purchase order for the rm to proceed. The pre-bid plans package, at the 90 percent mark, with the cost estimate, was to be ready within 275 days. The rm was to submit the bid phase plans at the 100 percent mark within 360 days. The project remains at the 60 percent design point. The original purchase order for Kimley-Horn to begin its consulting work on the beach im provements project was issued on May 17, 2010, Crystal Pruitt of the countys Commu nications Department told the News Leader on Nov. 28. The County Commission had ap proved the contract on May 11, 2010, accord ing to a Nov. 9 memo to the board from Caro lyn Brown, general manager of the Parks and Recreation Department, and James K. Harriott Jr., the countys chief engineer. According to documentation the News Lead er requested this week from the Procurement Department, the purchase order for the con tract amendment the commission authorized on Dec. 7, 2011 was requested on Dec. 13, 2011. The documentation for the Kimley-Horn contract says the approval date of that amend ment was Jan. 28, 2011. An accountant with which the News Leader consulted for this sto ry said it was a common accounting error for a January date to carry with it the preceding year instead of the new year. If the date was meant to be 2012, then, accord ing to the timeline in Exhibit B of the Decem ber 2011 contract amendment, the engineer would be required to submit the bid phase plans at the 100 percent mark on Jan. 28, 2013 A STORY STILL TO BE UNTANGLED In a Nov. 27 telephone interview with the News Leader the original beach project man ager, Spencer Anderson, said none of the com missioners had asked him whether he had any ideas regarding the delay in the completion of the project design. When the News Leader asked whether he had any idea about the cause of the delay, Ander son said, No, not necessarily. Anderson was promoted to a new position in May. He is director for eld services in the Operations and Maintenance Group, which in cludes oversight of pipe systems, he noted water and sewer work as well as road and bridge work and right of way contractors. He told the News Leader There was focus on the cost estimate every step of the way, and he pointed to the $16.7 million construction gure the board approved at that September 2011 meeting. Commission Chairwoman Christine Robinson has done some digging through board records herself to try to gure out what happened to the timeline the commissioners approved last year. Nonetheless, she told the News Leader on Nov. 27, My main focus right now is bringing the cost to within our budget and making sure that we get a nal project ready to go. She added, Then we can talk about what went wrong in the process. %

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The North Port City Commission slammed the brakes on a process designed to solicit ideas to redevelop Warm Mineral Springs during an adversarial and, at times, downright snide public meeting held Monday, Nov. 26. The commission gathered to consider going forward with an Invitation to Negotiate, which would allow private developers to put forward their ideas for how to redevelop Warm Miner al Springs, the 87-degree Fountain of Youth jointly purchased by North Port and Sarasota County in 2010. The Invitation to Negotiate process was set in motion in July during a joint city-county meet ing at which both commissions unanimously voted to begin soliciting long-term plans for the property. The contract with the company currently doing business at the springs expires next June, and commissioners hoped to have at least the rudiments of a long-term solution in place by then. But that plan came to a halt Monday, when the North Port commission led by Mayor Linda Yates and two newly elected commissioners shot down a motion to approve the Invita tion to Negotiate. Yates, who voted in favor of the Invitation to Negotiate in July, raised sev eral concerns about the plan, from the make up of the selection and negotiation teams that Visitors enjoy the waters of Warm Mineral Springs in south Sarasota County. Photo by Rachel Levey-Baker NORTH PORT COMMISSION PUTS THE BRAKES ON WARM MINERAL SPRINGS REDEVELOPMENT STORMY WATERS By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 18 would evaluate the developers ideas to what she called a scarcity of scientic data. Yates tells The Sarasota News Leader she originally supported the Invitation to Negoti ate because it was presented as a chance to hear ideas for an overall general use of the property. The Invitation to Negotiate was rst proposed in July by County Commissioner Joe Barbetta. What I got back was something totally differ ent, she says, something she could no longer support. At Mondays meeting, Yates said that instead of throwing open the door to private sec tor input, the city and county should rst de cide on their own pri orities for the parcel. What is the lay of the land that we as two governing bodies have determined? Where are we going to develop? she asked. Arent we going to come together at a joint meeting to decide, rather than put something on the street? But as Vice Mayor James Blucher pointed out, the Invitation to Negotiate would not lock the bodies into any specic plan. It merely would get the ball rolling. A lot of people are concerned about our re turn on investment, he said. Well, were go ing to nd out the return on investment. Thats what this ITN is all about. Well nd out whos interested and whos not. Its open enough to let some people be cre ative, and at the same time we have the nal word, he argued. Yates, who said she has probably been the greatest protector of that property and what it means to this community, called the propos al extremely troublesome and said she felt frustrated. She called attention to concerns about the springs ecological health (the Unit ed States Geological Society is in the middle of a three-year study of the springs) as well as licensing and tax issues. Newly sworn-in Com missioner Cheryl Cook backed Yates, saying she wanted to slow down the process and questioning the citys very ownership of the land. We are committing all future commissions, all future taxpayers, to being landlords, she said. Im extremely concerned about taking that step. The motion to approve the Invitation to Nego tiate eventually failed, with Yates, Cook and another newly elected commissioner, Rhonda DiFranco, opposed. An already contentious meeting then became bogged down with snide remarks over parliamentary procedure and Roberts Rules of Order, as well as exasper ated back-and-forths about the commissions backup plan. I think the county will be very disappoint ed with what took place today, Blucher said I think the county will be very disappointed with what took place today. Were going to be back to the starting point, and thats where this commission just took us. James Blucher Vice Mayor City of North Port

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 19 after the vote. Were going to be back to the starting point, and thats where this commis sion just took us. The vice mayor said opposition to the plan reected only a desire to make it really look bad that we bought the springs. Thats too bad, he said. Yates tells the News Leader she is not opposed to keeping the springs as a public asset, but she felt the purchasing process was rushed and that it is vital to have her questions an swered now, before committing to a long-term agreement. The same 3-2 majority that shot down the In vitation to Negotiate approved a motion to re quest another face-to-face meeting with the County Commission. It is unclear when that might take place, but the county board is set to discuss the springs during its Dec. 4 regular meeting in Venice at the R.L. Anderson Center, located at 4000 S. Tamiami Trail. Yates says she wants the commissions to ink a short-term concessionaire deal with a private company to manage the property as is when the current deal expires next June. Despite the vote to halt the Invitation to Negotiate, she says she is condent there will not be a stale mate in planning for the springs future. % Someone you know needs Planned Parenthood Lifesaving cancer screenings Parent & teen education Annual GYN exams Birth controlPlanned Parenthood Of Southwest And Central FloridaSarasota 941-953-4060MyPlannedParenthood.org Enter To Win A New iPad e contest concludes when e Sarasota News Leader achieves 1,000 Likes on Facebook, One winner will be selected at random from among sub scribers. Only subscribers are eligible to win the iPad, regardless of having Liked our page on Facebook. Contest is open only to residents of Sarasota County. Selected winners must provide a valid Sarasota County street address to receive the iPad. Contest is void where prohibited by law. 2 Then Like Us On Facebook When our Likes on Facebook reach 1,000, we will randomly select one of our subscribers to receive a new iPad. 1 Click to Subscribe

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T he local chapter of the American Civil Lib erties Union of Florida held a City Hall lawn press conference Tuesday morning, Nov. 27. Local chapter Legal Chairman Michael Bar eld blasted the Sarasota Police Department for what he called a culture of contempt and disrespect for the citys homeless. Bareld was working from a 98-page compen dium of police text messages sent between cruisers. He has led suit in federal court over the citys treatment of the homeless. On Tuesday, he handed out excerpts from the text messages. One was an exchange on Aug. 7 between 10:11 and 10:17 p.m. between two ofcers. Jacob Nelson: U NEED TO PROVE UR SELF SON LOL Joshua Vance: U THINK UR SOO COOL DONT U IM THE BUM HUNTER TONIGHT SON!! Hours later, at 2:48 a.m. Aug. 8, Christo Dev aney texted, GOT A PRANK FOR THE BUM HUNTERS? THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SLEEPING BUMS AND IM GOING TO DRESS UP LIKE ONE AND HAVE THEM FIND ME LOL DOOOOOO IT. A homeless person sleeps in Five Points Park, across from Selby Public Library. The City Commission removed the benches from the park to keep the homeless from lingering there. Photo by Norman Schimmel ANALYSIS: CITY OFFICIALS STRIKE BACK AFTER AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION CHAPTER REVEALS BUM-HUNTING POLICE EMAILS DUEL OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS By Stan Zimmerman City Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 21 The dates of these transmissions meshes per fectly with then-Interim City Manager Terry Lewis ordering police captains to person ally begin patrolling downtown. Lewis told The Sarasota News Leader in August, We have more vagrants and they appear to be younger. Its a differ ent demographic. Two weeks later, during a City Commission meeting, Mayor Suzanne Atwell said, Im not comfortable going downtown anymore be cause of vagrancy issues. Commissioners ordered Lewis to toughen en forcement on the citys various anti-vagrancy ordinances, and they asked for a report at ev ery commission meeting. On Nov. 27, Bareld passed out copies of a ta ble showing police citations and arrests for vi olations of municipal ordinances over the past four years. Not surprisingly, the chart shows a signicant spike since Aug. 23, following Atwells complaint and the commissions get tough response. At every subsequent commission meeting, commissioners praised the police for aggres sive action, and they repeatedly said, Tell us if we can do more. Another text cited by Bareld was from Sept. 4 at 3:30 a.m. Corinn Stannish wrote: AROUND 4 OR 430, CAN YOU CHECK ISLAND PARK FOR TRANSIENTS? CITE THEM CITY CODE IF FOUND. SOME BRIDGE AND PARK WALK ERS HAVE BEEN HSSELED LATELY. LET ME KNOW VIA EMAIL IF ANY ENFORCEMENT HAD TO BE TAKEN. Considering the pressure the Sarasota police were under from their masters at City Hall, the spike in arrests and citations is under standable. And to a lesser extent, so are the bum hunter com ments cited from just one evening. It is like ly they reect the date the night shift received new marching orders from Lewis to begin tightening up enforcement of vagrancy-relat ed ordinances. Note the word bum has no religious or racial connotations. In fact, it is a common term in politics, as in Throw the bums out! LOSING THAT NEW CAR SMELL While Barfield was busy harping on three comments from 98 pages of transcripts, the new city manager was undermining himself as well in a battle of who can be less credible. After the press conference, City Manager Tom Barwin was available for press interviews, along with police Capt. Paul Sutton. Barwin started punching low and went lower in sev eral interviews. He said Bareld had twisted the facts to suit his case, an insanely common tactic inside City Hall but apparently not avail able outside its connes. And he dredged up comments that Bareld is a disbarred attorney who forged and stole from his clients which, of course, has nothing to do with Barelds arguments or evidence. On one sunny morning, Tom Barwin lost his new car smell and became just another City Hall time-server. I rocked the boats and some big boats rocked back. Richard Martin Former Executive Director Suncoast Partnership for the Homeless

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 22 Barwin even offered a recent example of how counterproductive it is to besmirch a litigant. City Commissioner Terry Turner shot the messenger in a public records lawsuit, cost ing the city an extra $5,000 before the issue was settled. Clearly, Barwin did not learn from the experience. In what could be a long-running Barwin-Bar eld battle, Bareld came back to City Hall later and asked for a bevy of the new city managers emails under Floridas Public Re cords Law. Early in Barwins tenure, which began in Sep tember, he and Bareld tried to nd common ground to defend the constitutional rights of homeless people while enhancing the safety and security of residents downtown. The ne gotiations obviously went nowhere. AND GETTING WORSE While the legal and bureaucratic bum-ght ing continues, the plight of Sarasotas homeless will worsen. Their only publicly visible cham pion was former Mayor Richard Martin. He was the director of the Sun coast Coalition to End Homelessness and the architect of the recently approved Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. Note the past tense. Mar tin had to leave the job. I was asked to step down, he told the News Leader I rocked the boats and some big boats rocked back. Services for the homeless and vagrants in the City and County of Sarasota are woeful in comparison to those in Manatee and Pinellas counties to the north. When Martin took his Ten-Year Plan before the city and county commissions, they applauded his efforts and turned him down at for any funding. Meanwhile, in Manatee County, on 17th Avenue West near McKechnie Field, the One Stop Center is staffed by volunteers to help the homeless with food, clothing, edu cation, training, health care and other needs. And the center helps people on the verge of homelessness to keep their housing if they face foreclosure or eviction. A major part of the organizations budget assists people in paying their monthly rent. People come here to eat because it saves the money they need to pay the rent, said Adell Eroz er, the centers director. Sarasotas needs are just as great, but the as sistance is fragment ed. Without Martin, and without any plan to move forward, it looks like only more bum-ghting lies ahead. Yet, a pair of studies in 2010 identied 1,829 homeless children in Manatee County and 1,425 homeless children in Sarasota County. % City Manager Tom Barwin address es the board during his rst City Commission meeting in September. Photo by Norman Schimmel

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It took only one crack in the dike to send a ood over the City Commissions policy of uniform parking regulations for the entire city. That crack was created by St. Armands Key merchants. Their squeals of pain caused the commissioners to declare unconditional sur render on Nov. 19 and allow that shopping dis trict to revert to age-old regulations. On Nov 28, the citys Parking Committee heard Parking Manager Mark Lyons say all eight of the citys parking districts will soon be consid ered for individual regulations. The uniform policy is dead, dead, dead. These areas are the downtown core, the ju dicial center, Southside Village (aka Hillview Street and Osprey Avenue), Burns Square, St. Armands (already done), Newtown, the Rose mary District and the Marina Jack area. Each area needs to be looked at differently, said Lyons. He will soon take his parking message to each of the districts, starting with downtown rst. The lions share of our parking revenue comes from downtown, said Lyons. While many revisions and modications may not require City Commission direction or ap City of Sarasota ofcials say the lions share of the municipal parking revenue comes from down town. Photo by Norman Schimmel EACH OF THE CITY OF SARASOTAS PARKING DISTRICTS SOON MAY SEE ITS OWN SPECIFIC REGULATIONS, FOLLOWING RECENT CHANGES ON ST. ARMANDS BYE-BYE UNIFORM STANDARDS By Stan Zimmerman City Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 24 proval, Lyons is mindful of who is in charge. There are quite a few things we can do with out going to the City Commission, he told the Parking Committee. But Ill need to measure their concerns, too. Ill review this with my bosses, and if they agree, well take it to the commission. A new study of parking in Sarasota is in the wings. Two contractors submitted responses to a request for proposals, which will be eval uated Dec. 1. The results will help guide Lyons in setting the parameters for parking restric tions in the various districts. He hopes city staff will be able to study parking in January, during the tourist sea son, and again in May. The study will look at capacity, turnover, times of day, employ ee parking and will hit all eight districts, he said. The Parking Committee is a bit unusual. It is not an advisory committee, but more like a sounding board. It operates under Floridas Sunshine Laws, but it produces no written reports or recommendations. Lyons is asking for its help in creating a comprehensive mis sion statement and vision for parking in town. It is a tall order. Steve Queior is president and CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and a committee member, as is Marty Rappaport, chairman of the St. Ar mands Business Improvement District. Whose needs are we trying to satisfy in each district? asked Queior. Is it the downtown employee versus the mall shopper? asked Rappaport. Queior noted that 23,400 people work with in a one-mile radius of downtown. And even as gasoline irts with $4 per gallon, carand van-pooling remains a dream. If a downtown circula tor is built as a result of the citys Mobility Study, where will peo ple park to get aboard it? Should downtown employees pay for a parking permit, even if parking is free? Those are only some of the questions with which the committee is wrestling. As Queior put it, Whose behavior are we try ing to accommodate? To which can now be added, In which dis trict? % Whose needs are we trying to satisfy in each district? Steve Queior Member Sarasota Parking Committee For a complimentary consultation call 941.923.5406 | Christine Koval, D.M.D. | www.askdrkoval.com Tonya Herschberger & Linda KeefeAfter a terrible accident I required surgery. Tonya shared with me that Dr. Koval was responsible for her beautiful smile. She gave me hope and direction. Im so grateful to Dr, Koval. Now I have a smile that I love to share with everyone.

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Tonya Herschberger & Linda Keefe Christine Koval, D.M.D. Restorative, Cosmetic & Laser Dentistry General Dentistry 2477 Stickney Point Road, Suite 216A Sarasota, FL 941.923.5406 www.askdrkoval.com Awarded 20 Gold Medals for Smile Makeovers by the Florida Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Tonya was the nurse who prepped Linda for surgery after she was hit by a drunk driver while walking with her husband and their dog. In spite of her pain and the anxiety that precedes any surgical procedure, Linda gazed up at the nurse and immediately felt at ease. You have a beautiful smile, she said. Thats when Tonya shared with Linda the person responsible for her beautiful smile, Dr. Christine Koval. For over 25 years, Dr. Koval has been one of the areas most trusted experts in creating beautiful, natural smiles using the latest advances in restorative, cosmetic, laser and general dentistry. Most new patients come to her based on referrals from people who just cant stop smiling. Linda turned to Dr. Koval to repair her smile and jaw which was so misaligned she couldnt chew her food properly. Tonyas comforting smile and advice gave me hope and direction, she says. Im so grateful to her, and of course to Dr. Koval. Now I have a smile that I love to share with everyone I meet.For a complimentary consultation call 941.923.5406 or for a more extensive smile gallery viewing visit askdrkoval.com ENHANCE YOUR SMILE. ENHANCE YOUR LIFE.

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Florida earned a D in a recently released pre mature birth report card issued by the March of Dimes, reecting the states high rate of premature births. That rate has actually dipped in recent years, but not enough to get the state up to the na tional average. Sarasotas Healthy Start Coalition is bringing attention to the poor grade and promoting pre vention with its Think 39 Weeks! campaign. The push emphasizes the health benets of a full-term 39-week pregnancy, with a long list of positive factors for both the mother and the child. That information needs to get out. In a state wide Healthy Start survey, nearly half of re spondents said deliveries earlier than 37 weeks were safe. March of Dimes statistics show a decline in the percentage of premature births in Florida, from 13.3 percent to 13 percent between 2010 and 2011, down from 13.8 percent in 2006. One factor that may be slowing that decline? An in crease in the percentage of uninsured women between the ages of 15 and 44. That number rose by almost a full percentage point, to 29.3 percent. March of Dimes cites a lack of regu lar health care before and during pregnancy as a major risk factor for premature births. How is Florida faring when compared to other states? Well, we are not Mississippi, where the rate of premature births is 16.9 percent, but we have a long way to go to catch Vermont, where the rate is 8.8 percent. One area in which March of Dimes does cred it the Sunshine State is the commitment to reduce the premature birth rate. Florida has pledged to lower its number by 8 percent by 2014. For now, at least, the state is headed in the right direction, even if that still only gets us just above failing. % Florida ofcials continue to work on lowering the states premature birth rate. Photo by Micha Fleuren/Dreamstime FLORIDA EARNS A D FOR ITS PREMATURE BIRTH STATS JUST ABOVE FAILING By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor

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The Downtown Sarasota Alliance put on a show of force Tuesday morning, Nov. 27. The members were out to convince the Downtown Improvement District board to continue pro viding a $20,000 marketing grant to the DSA. They faced stiff opposition from the new Sara sota Downtown Merchants Association, and its chairman, Ron Soto. The whole reason we got started was be cause the DSA put up all kinds of hoops some on re for our Dog Days of Summer [event], he said. The DSA recently sent out an email saying all the Christmas decorations were the work of the DSA. But we paid for them, and we repainted them, and we did that ourselves. Sarasota over the decades has seen a pletho ra of organizations sprout up, purporting to represent downtown. Alliance, association, partnership: Pick your term. Old ones were supplanted by new ones, and that is exactly what the Downtown Improvement District is worried about. Sotos organization is young. Weve been to gether two-and-a-half months, he told the dis trict board. He has 34 members. Downtown Sarasota has seen a number of organizations come and go, purporting to represent the area. Photo by Norman Schimmel DOWNTOWN SARASOTA ORGANIZATIONS SQUABBLE OVER USE OF $20,000 IN MARKETING FUNDS AND THEIR OWN EXISTENCE FIGHTING FOR CHICKEN FEED By Stan Zimmerman City Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 28 The DSA is almost 10 times as large, with 330 members. But less than half live or work with in the connes of the Downtown Improvement District, which levies a 2-mill tax for enhance ment of the downtown area. Ron Kennedy is a shopkeeper in the district. I pay the special DID tax, he told the board. I wouldnt expect the DID to clean the Rose mary District side walks or irrigate Burns Square. What comes from the DID should stay in the DID. Kennedy is concerned the DSAs marketing is spread much wider than just the connes of the DID. A once-a-month event called First Friday features downtown merchants staying open late as pedestrians stroll the area just along Main Street and Palm Avenue. Last January, the DSA began promoting three other near-downtown areas for additional Fri day strolls the Rosemary District, Burns Square and Towles Court on consecutive weekends. The DSA used DID money for an umbrella promotion of all four venues, and that rankled merchants and landowners who pay the special DID tax. As Soto put it, Its inappropriate for them to have all that money. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE All that money is a mere $20,000. Were going to need this money, said DID Chairman Ernie Ritz. The organization is em barking on an ambitious capital improvement program in the coming year, and Ritz wants to preserve cash to pay for overruns and emer gencies. In building a budget for the current period, the DID intentionally omitted marketing ex penses. That omission is what brought the DSA to the table to re quest a repeat of last years appropriation. And that eventually dragged the new mer chants group into the discussion. Why wont you guys work together? asked Ritz. DSA Chairman John Harshman replied later in the meeting, Were happy to work with them. The DSA isnt a bad thing, said Soto. We would love to work together. Dr. Mark Kaufman, DID board member and longtime downtown player, told Soto, The birth of your organization could be the death of their organization. The DID voted to give DSA the $20,000 for marketing. But Kaufmans motion included a strong recommendation they try to assimilate the merchants association. % I wouldnt expect the DID to clean the Rosemary District sidewalks or irrigate Burns Square. What comes from the DID should stay in the DID. Ron Kennedy Businessman downtown Sarasota

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It is a full plate for the Sarasota city commis sioners Dec. 3, with both the afternoon and evening sessions of their regular meeting fea turing numerous issues. The rst item on the afternoon consent agen da cleans up the city ordinance dealing with trespassing. This is a key anti-vagrancy tool, and the changes will allow the county-owned Selby Library at Five Points and the Sarasota County Area Transit transfer station on Lem on Avenue to issue trespass warnings enforce able by the city Police Department. Approval will set up this measure for a public hearing early next year. Also on the consent agenda are lease exten sions for MarineMax and the Ski-A-Rees on city-owned property on City Island. Marine Max would receive a ve-year extension to avoid lease termination on Dec. 31. Mean while, city staff is negotiating a longer lease to come back before the commission later. MarineMax operates a marina on New Pass. The Ski-A-Rees have entertained Sarasota au diences since the 1960s, with Sunday exposi tions of water ski expertise on the south side of City Island. They are requesting a ve-year extension to 2017. Discussion of the proposed overlay district for Laurel Park is one item on the City Commissions Dec. 3 agenda. Photo by Norman Schimmel TRESPASSING ORDINANCE, REOPENING OSPREY AVENUE IN THE AREA OF THE STALLED LIFT STATION WORK, LAUREL PARK OVERLAY DISTRICT AND CITY ISLAND LEASES ON THE AGENDA CITY COMMISSION PREVIEW By Stan Zimmerman City Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 30 Under unnished business in the afternoon, the commissioners will consider extending, modifying or relaxing a hiring freeze. While the city staff is down 24 percent from ve years ago, most of the reduction is due to self-imposed stafng delays and outsourced functions, according to a city memo. In the meantime, some staff members have been promoted, while others have left, leaving va cancies. How to deal with the consequences of the hiring freeze is the question. The second piece of unfinished afternoon business holds huge consequences for Lau rel Park, a time-warp neighborhood from the 1920s faced with concerns about mega-devel opment along its borders. The south-of-down town neighborhood is seeking an overlay district with stipulations requiring neighbor hood meetings with prospective developers of properties adjacent to the residents bunga lows; the homeowners want the requirement in the citys comprehensive plan. Third on that part of the agenda is a $750,000 expense regarding the giant holes in the ground blocking Osprey Avenue. The money would be used to put Osprey back into twolane order while the city struggles to nd an engineer to complete its sewage lift station No. 87. The former engineering company was dismissed for incompetence. If you have a host of unpaid parking tickets, you might want to testify during the evening portion of the City Commission session, when a public hearing has been scheduled about a host of parking issues. Prices are proposed to go up for delinquency fees, and the ne for parking a gas-powered car in an electric-car recharge spot; the amount of ne will be con sidered for removing an immobilizing wheel boot or tampering with it. And three parking violations will mean you cannot renew your tags or drivers license without paying up. While they are in revenue-boosting mode, the commissioners will hold the evenings next public hearing about raising fees for en forcement of the Florida Building Code. And the following public hearing among other things will focus on requiring anybody who tears up the right of way to put in a patch bet ter than the original surface. We can only hope this applies to city repairs as well. New business always comes at the end of a meeting. St. Armands merchants and land owners will present a petition asking the city to extend the life of their business improve ment district for another decade. They are fresh from a victory two weeks ago, during which they saw the commission overturn a one-size-ts-all parking policy. Then City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo will lead a discussion about downtown parking and how it ts in the new and unregulated en vironment the commission created two weeks ago. % Take Your Time You Have All Week Enjoy The News Leader Anytime Day or Night

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Hoping to expose as many children as possible to the joys of the natural world, the Sarasota Audubon Society has launched a collabora tion with Around the Bend Nature Tours and Sarasota County Schools to bring students to the Celery Fields for a day of outdoor learn ing. Starting in January, groups of kids from area schools will trav el to the Celery Fields, where they will be supplied with binoc ulars to identify birds and learn about native plants and the ecology of the wetlands. The cost of the program ($700 per trip) is being split by the Audubon Society and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Audubon Society President Jeanne Dubi says the program was created to combat nature decit disorder, the increasing distance be tween local children and the wilderness. The term is a joke (no such medical condi tion exists, of course), but the need is very real. The Society ad vertised the excur The Celery Fields soon will be welcoming youngsters eager to learn about nature. Photo courtesy Sarasota County AUDUBON SOCIETY LAUNCHES KIDS PROGRAM TO COMBAT NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER ROOM TO ROAM Theres a lot more to Sarasota than the beaches. Jeanne Dubi President Sarasota Audubon By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor

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where tourists and locals alike can become educated about the outdoor opportunities. A lot of money is spent on encouraging peo ple to go to the beach and stay at the beach, Dubi says. Theres a lot more to Sarasota than the beaches. That is something a whole lot of kids are about to learn. % A Sarasota Audubon capital campaign is under way to fund new facilities for visitors to the Celery Fields. Photo courtesy Sarasota County sions one Monday morning a couple of weeks back, and all 28 trips lled up within hours. Dubi says that shows the desperate demand and the desperate need for eld trips. A yer for the program argues that eld trips are vital in helping students understand the basic principles of environmental citizenship, something that is difcult to teach in just the classroom. The program is in line to reach 1,300 to 1,400 children this spring, according to Dubi. A side goal of the trips is to promote the Celery Fields itself. The area is a treasure trove for birders, and the Audubon Society is working to build a nature center there that can serve as a hub for the areas entire range of woodsy ac tivities. The building will have classrooms and meeting space, as well as a visitors center, Click For Interactive Map Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 32

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During late 2011, Florida Department of Trans portation ofcials in Sarasota were almost alarmed enough to raise caution ags: Both Sarasota County and City of Sarasota staff were eying FDOT right of way by the north Siesta bridge for separate projects. The state highway of cials still were months away from their June starting date for the bridge rehabilitation work, but they want ed to make absolutely sure no one would be in the way when that project started. As it turned out, the citys replacement of a sewer pipe under the bay was completed well in advance of the start of the bridge work. However, the county project which al ready had hit some snags remains un nished. On Nov. 13, the manag er of that project was back before the Coun A Sarasota County map shows the area where part of Palmer Point Park would be restored. Image courtesy Sarasota County AFTER REACHING AN IMPASSE WITH THE ORIGINAL CONTRACTOR, THE COUNTY COMMISSION VOTES TO TRY AGAIN TO RESTORE A SECTION OF PALMER POINT PARK ANOTHER GO AT IT By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor This thing really should have been done a couple of years ago. Nora Patterson Commissioner Sarasota County

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 34 ty Commission to explain what had transpired and seeking a vote to enable him to move for ward once again. The commissioners gave him that go-ahead, on a 4-1 vote. On May 10, 2011, the commission authorized a $559,650 contract with Tampa Contracting Services Inc. to remove and dispose of exotic vegetation; excavate and grade dredge spoil material; transport the excavated material; and supply and plant wetland and upland veg etation on the southeastern section of Palmer Point Park. It was the rst spoil islands resto ration project designed to improve water qual ity in that part of the bay, returning the body of water to the level of health it enjoyed before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Intracoastal Waterway in the 1960s. Palmer Point Park is on the north end of Ca sey Key. As a Nov. 13 memo to the commission ex plained, the exotic vegetation was removed, but because of neighborhood opposition to the contractors selection of a staging/ofoad ing site to dispose of the vegetation, county staff and the contractor had to seek an alter native plan. Project Manager Paul Semenec put it this way in addressing the County Commission on Nov. 13: There was very strong and immediate re action from the neighborhood about that pro posal. Semenec explained to members of the Siesta Key Association on Oct. 6, 2011, that if FDOT granted use of its right of way just below the The Florida Department of Transportation right of way below the north Siesta bridge yet may serve a role in a spoil island restoration project. Photo by Norman Schimmel

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 35 north bridge, the contractor could pile the dredge material on barges, send them up the ICW to the bridge, ofoad the material and truck it away. FDOT did end up granting the permit, he pointed out to the County Commission on Nov. 13, but the contractor also had to devel op a sediment management plan, which need ed approval of the Florida Department of En vironmental Management. Because of the delay in working out a plan to remove the dredge material, Semenec con tinued, the contractor ended up submitting a claim to the county for an extra $189,945 for the project, along with a request for a 90-day extension. That claim was rejected, as was a revised claim for $95,000 and 90 days, he add ed. That claim remains an unresolved issue. Semenec pointed out that the agreement Tampa Contracting Services signed with the county made it the companys responsibility to identify a site to which it could transport the vegetation removed from the park, and it had to obtain the necessary permits for what ever plan it chose. The schedule change also remains a major unresolved cost issue with the contractor, Semenec told the commissioners. After staff met with the contractor recently, he added, the parties agreed to a mutual ter mination of the contract. However, the coun ty owed the contractor a nal payment of $32,818.76, Semenec said. THE SWFWMD FACTOR The Nov. 13 memo points out that a county agreement with the Southwest Florida Wa ter Management District for funding of the project called for the work to be completed by Dec. 31, 2011. However, the memo says, when it became apparent that construction would not be completed by the expiration date, county staff requested a reallocation of funds. SWFWMD staff amended the agreement, the memo continues, to apply $89,201.62 to the design and engineering costs of the complet ed Bird Colony Island project, which involved cleaning up that island just off Siesta Key. Altogether, SWFWMD provided $631,490.56 of the $950,000 the county had budgeted for spoil islands restoration. With the park resto ration incomplete, the memo points out, only $43,806.98 of the SWFWMD funding had been applied to the project. The Nov. 13 memo adds, At this time, the [Palmer Point Park] project is being evaluated to ascertain the potential for use as mitigation for impacts that will occur during construc tion of the future Siesta Beach Improvements project. Should it be determined that [it] is acceptable as mitigation, the county will re imburse $43,806.98 to SWFWD. MOVING FORWARD During his presentation, Semenec sought board authorization to re-advertise the Palm er Point Park project, with the FDOT right of way by the north Siesta bridge identied as an available transfer site for the dredge material. FDOTs staff in Sarasota had agreed to use of the right of way, he added. Commissioner Nora Patterson asked Seme nec to make certain he notied the president of the Bay Island Association which rep

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 36 resents the neighborhood closest to the right of way. I can do that, denitely, he replied. So theyre not surprised then when a yearand-a-half later, a project starts, Patterson added. Yes, Semenec told her. I fully intend to meet with them. A meeting was not necessary, Patterson said; he just needed to contact the association. At the request of Chairwoman Christine Rob inson, the board split the requested action into two votes. First, the commissioners vot ed unanimously to resolve the issue with the contractor, including making the proposed nal payment. Then, with Robinson dissenting, they autho rized the rebidding of the project. Robinson noted she previously had opposed the spoil island restoration effort. This thing really should have been done a couple of years ago, Patterson said, adding that at one point, the county had enough rev enue to undertake several spoil island resto rations. The moneys too tight to move forward [on other projects], she said. This one, I think, people really do expect. Shes right on, Commissioner Jon Thaxton agreed. The meeting was held during the last week of Thaxtons term. % Enter To Win A New iPad e contest concludes when e Sarasota News Leader achieves 1,000 Likes on Facebook, One winner will be selected at random from among subscribers. Only subscribers are eligible to win the iPad, regardless of having Liked our page on Facebook. Contest is open only to residents of Sarasota County. Selected winners must provide a valid Sarasota County street address to receive the iPad. Contest is void where prohibited by law. 2 Then Like Us On Facebook When our Likes on Facebook reach 1,000, we will randomly select one of our subscribers to receive a new iPad. 1 Click here to Subscribe

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More than 600 people came to J.D. Hamel Park in downtown Sarasota on Nov. 23 to show their support for Israel, Howard Tevlowitz, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, told The Sarasota News Leader this week. Following a rally in the park to show solidari ty for Israel in its recent conict with Hamas, participants crossed U.S. 41 for a walk over the Ringling Bridge. The federation provided small Israeli ags to those wishing to carry them. Online resources regarding Israels fight against Hamas are available at www.Saraso taLovesIsrael.com a news release says. For more information about the federation, visit www.jfedsrq.org % Jennifer New (left) and Patti Wertheimer make clear their feelings for Israel. Photos by Norman Schimmel HUNDREDS RALLY FOR ISRAEL IN ITS FIGHT AGAINST HAMAS SOLID SHOW OF SUPPORT Staff Reports

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 38 Marchers make their way up the Ringling Bridge on Nov. 23.

Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 40 The American ag waves behind the banner of support for Israel.

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NEWS BRIEFS The Payne Park playground in downtown Sarasota has proven popular with families. Photo courte sy City of Sarasota Payne Park playground, 2050 Adams Lane, was closed as of Nov. 26 for the installation of a shade structure, the City of Sarasota an nounced. It is expected to reopen on or before Friday, Dec. 14, a city news release adds. The shade structure will cover the area for small children (ages 5-12) as well as the music area, providing relief from the sun as request ed by residents, the release says. The instal lation will include the placement of support columns. In January, portions of the playground will be temporarily closed again to install a shade cloth over the structure, the release notes. The planned closure dates are Monday, Jan. 14 through Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. PAYNE PARK PLAYGROUND CLOSED UNTIL MID-DECEMBER

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 42 Nov. 30 is the last day to pay property taxes with a 4 percent discount and that day usu ally brings in quite a crowd at the Tax Collec tors Ofce, a county news release says. To make it easier for taxpayers, on Friday, Nov. 30, drive-through service will be avail able from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following Tax Collector Service Centers: Downtown Sarasota Terrace Building, 101 S. Washington Blvd. (south side). South Sarasota West of Palmer Ranch Plaza, 8484 S. Tamiami Trail (south side). Venice Anderson Administration Center, 4000 S. Tamiami Trail (east side, Florida Highway Patrol parking lot). Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates also re minds taxpayers in the news release, The 4 percent discount is given if you postmark or pay at www.SarasotaTaxCollector.com by Nov. 30. In addition, 24-hour drop boxes are available at the service centers and in North Port at the Supervisor of Elections Ofce, 13640 Tamiami Trail, on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The elections ofce is closed from noon to 1 p.m., the news release notes. PAY YOUR TAXES FROM YOUR CAR Thomas Chaffee, a junior at Pine View School in Osprey, has been selected to represent the Sarasota County School District as its 2013 Sunshine State Scholar during an event to be held Thursday and Friday, Feb. 21-22, 2013, in Orlando. If Chaffee is unable to attend, the alternate student is Dominic Morrow, a junior at Venice High School, a district news release notes. Each school district in Florida selects its top 11th-grade scholar, a person who demon strates tremendous academic ability and [expresses] a desire to attend a Florida uni versity, the release adds. The Sunshine State Scholars program recognizes students achievements in STEM courses (science, PINE VIEW JUNIOR NAMED 2013 SUNSHINE STATE SCHOLAR technology, engineering and mathematics), a weighted grade point average of 3.9 or higher and a minimum of 25 hours of approved com munity service. The focus of the program is to retain intellec tual talent in Florida, the release notes. Each of the scholars, along with his or her parents and a teacher who has served as a signicant inuence for the student, will trav el to Orlando for the two-day program at the Doubletree Hotel at Universal Orlando. The scholars will have the opportunity to meet with representatives of Floridas colleges and universities to discuss career and postsec ondary opportunities available to them in the state, the release adds. Press Releases & News Tips News@SarasotaNewsLeader.com

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 43 Items such as holiday-themed arts and crafts from local artisans will take center stage at Sarasota County Parks and Recreations Hol iday Arts and Crafts Show, Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Englewood Sports Complex, 1300 S. River Road, Englewood. Parking and admission to the show are free. The event will feature more than 50 vendors offering a variety of handcrafted jewelry, quilts, paintings, handbags and more, a coun ty news release says. Children ages 5-9 will enjoy making a vari ety of hands-on craft projects to take home HOLIDAY ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOW TO BE HELD IN ENGLEWOOD f rom Santas Kids Craft Workshop, the re lease adds. The workshop will be open from 10 a.m. to noon. The cost is $2 for each child; advanced registration is suggested. Santa will be available for photos so parents can capture that special holiday moment with their own camera, the release adds. For more information or to register your child for the Santa Kids Craft Workshop, contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 861-5000 or visit www.scgov.net Road; and East Avenue from Fruitville Road to Ringling Boulevard. U.S. 301 (North Washington Boulevard) will close at 5 p.m. from Fruitville Road to Ring ling Blvd. It is anticipated that U.S. 301 will remain closed until approximately 9 p.m. as well, the release says. The parade route will be closed to vehicle traf c at 5 p.m.; it is expected to reopen by 10 p.m. The parade route includes Gulfstream Ave nue from U.S. 41 south to McAnsh Square and McAnsh Square from Gulfstream Avenue to Pineapple Avenue. The 1600 block of Main Street will not close until 5:30 p.m. to accommodate trafc from a previously planned event Singing Christ mas Tree, the release adds. The Sarasota Holiday Parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1, starting at 7 p.m., the city has announced. The parade route will start at Main Street and U.S. 301 and head west on Main Street to Bay front Drive. The event and staging for it will result in street closures, the Sarasota Police Department has announced. Vehicles that remain parked in the posted prohibited areas will be towed, a news release says. The staging area will shut down at noon. It is anticipated this area will remain closed until approximately 9 p.m., the release says. The staging area includes Main Street from U.S. 301 to School Avenue; School Avenue from Main Street to Fruitville Road; Audubon Place at Fruitville Road; Fletcher Avenue at Fruitville Road; Wallace Avenue at Fruitville SARASOTA HOLIDAY PARADE DETAILS PROVIDED

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 44 Sarasota Mayor Suzanne Atwell kicked off her re-election campaign Tuesday, Nov. 27, with a reception at a local restaurant. This will be her third bid for an atlarge commission seat. She ran and lost in 2005, then ran and won in 2009. I cant imagine not running, she told the crowd of supporters. Four years is not enough. I want four more years. She suggested this is a good time to start the revitalization of City Hall, because a number of senior staff po sitions in city government will turn over in a short time. New City Manager Tom Barwin has been in place about 90 days, and a new police chief Bernadette DiP ino starts work Jan. 1. Also com ing are a new nance director, hu man resources director and public works director. The community is tired of fractured leadership. We need consistency and Im willing to look at that, she said. Atwell is the only incumbent in the race. She joins Linda Holland, Rich ard Dorfman, Kevin Lumpkin, Pete Thiesen and Susan Chapman in the competition for two at-large seats on the Sarasota City Commission. Stan Zimmerman Sarasota Mayor Suzanne Atwell cuts the ribbon at the opening of the Season of Sculpture in November 2011. Photo by Norman Schimmel ATWELL ANNOUNCES FOR RE-ELECTION TO CITY COMMISSION

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 45 Along with store security camera photos, sur veillance video can be viewed on the Sheriffs Ofce YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ SarasotaSheriff Anyone with information is encouraged to call Criminal Investigations at 861-4900, leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by call ing 366-TIPS (8477), go online at www.saraso tacrimestoppers.com or send a text message by texting TIP109 with a message to CRIMES (274637). The Sarasota County Sheriffs Ofce is ask ing the public for assistance in identifying an armed suspect who robbed a cashier at Bealls Outlet, 4084 Cattlemen Road, on Friday night, Nov. 23. Witnesses say a man walked into the store at 7:05 p.m., pointed a knife at salespeople and demanded cash from the register, according to the Sheriffs Ofce. He ed the store and left on a black bicycle, a news release says. The suspect is a blond white male, 5 feet 8 inch es tall and about 230 pounds, the release adds. Surveillance images show the Bealls Outlet robbery suspect from two angles. ASSISTANCE SOUGHT IN IDENTIFYING SUSPECT AIDS quilts will be on display, and the Voices of Diversity will present musical selections, a news release says. GAIN is composed of diverse communities afrming the dignity of all persons, the re lease adds. For more information, call 377-1003. GAIN (Gulfcoast Affirming Interfaith Net work) will hold its annual World AIDS Day service on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church 3975 Fruitville Road, Sarasota. Among the participants will be the Rev. Roger Fritts, Rabbi Harold Caminker, the Rev. Phil Garrison and Deacon Bonnie Moore. WORLD AIDS DAY SERVICE SET FOR DEC. 1

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 46 The tree will be in front of the Christy Payne Mansion. The bromeliads are available for sale to the public after the holidays. Among the Gardens festivities in December will be the fami ly-friendly Lights in Bloom as well as the ASID Designer Showhouse in the Christy Payne Man sion. The Bromeliad Tree lighting cere mony is a prelude to Lights in Bloom, when the Gardens will be adorned with life-sized, gar den-themed illumi nations, the release notes. The festive winter wonderland will run from Dec. 15-23 and Dec. 2627, 6 to 9 p.m. The annual lighting of Selby Gardens signa ture bromeliad tree on Dec. 4 will kick off the season for holiday celebrations in the Gar dens. This magnificent tree, more than 20 feet high, is composed of hundreds of col orful bromeliads with a new display each year, a news release says. The Bromeliad Tree rst appeared in 1997; it has been a holi day favorite of Sel by Gardens visitors for 15 years, the re lease adds. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4. The Gardens is located at 811 S. Palm Ave. Selby Gardens bromeliad tree shines brightly during the 2011 holiday season. Photo by Norman Schimmel SELBY GARDENS TO LIGHT BROMELIAD TREE ON DEC. 4 will benet Wounded Warriors and disadvan taged children. Members are asked to bring unwrapped toys. The social hour will begin at 6 p.m.; the event will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for mem bers and $35 for guests and non-members. For additional information and reservations, click on Upcoming Events at www.Sara sotaRepublicanClub.com or contact Donna Arenschield at 312-5279. The Sarasota Republican Club will host its an nual Christmas dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Blvd. Among the evenings highlights will be re marks by Joe Gruters, chairman of the Re publican Party of Sarasota County; violin and guitar entertainment by the Anton Cutajar Duo; and holiday songs by the State College of Florida Choir, a news release says. A rafe SARASOTA REPUBLICAN CLUB TO MEET DEC. 5

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 47 The Gulf Gate Elementary School Par ent-Teacher Association will hold a Flea Mar ket on Wheels from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Dec. 8. Community members may load their vehi cles with items to sell, rent space for $10 and keep the proceeds they make, a school district news release says. The rent money will go di rectly to the schools PTA, which will use it for scholarships for students to participate in eld trips, grants for teachers and playground equipment, among other purposes, the news release adds. We encourage everyone to bring their items to sell or come buy some! Either way it helps our school, said Principal Robin Magac in the release. Anyone wishing to rent a space must pay by cash or check by Monday, Dec. 3. More infor mation is available by calling Patti Harrell at 544-8111 after 5 p.m. GULF GATE ELEMENTARY PTA TO HOLD FLEA MARKET ON WHEELS The School Board of Sarasota County has elected Jane Goodwin as chairwoman and Shirley Brown as vice chairwoman for the next 12 months. Chairmanship of the board ro tates each No vember among the five mem bers, a district news release points out. The decisions were made at the School Boards annu al reorganiza tion meeting on Nov. 20, held be fore the regular, semi-monthly meeting. SCHOOL BOARD ELECTS NEW CHAIRWOMAN AND VICE CHAIRWOMAN During the meeting, School Board members Caroline Zucker and Frank Kovach, who were re-elected without opposition in June, were sworn in for new four-year terms by Judge Lee Haworth of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court. Goodwin was elected to the School Board in August 2010; she took her seat in Novem ber of that year. Brown was elected to the School Board in November 2006. She served in the Florida House of Repre sentatives from 1992 to 2000, representing District 69 as a Democrat. Members of the Sarasota County School Board (shown clockwise from left) are Carol Todd, Chairwoman Jane Goodwin, Frank Kovach, Vice Chairwoman Shirley Brown and Caroline Zucker. Contributed photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 48 During its Nov. 16 meeting, the Board of Di rectors of the Community Foundation of Sara sota County awarded $238,000 in grants to nu merous area nonprots. These funds, which are for programmatic and operating use, were granted from the Kathleen K. Catlin Fund of the Foundation. Kathleen Catlin was an extraordinary donor from Venice who cared deeply about South County, says Foundation President and CEO Roxie Jerde in a news release. These grants continue her legacy of caring about those who are most in need by supporting the nonprof its serving and strengthening our community. And the holiday needs grants which pro vide funds for food and/or small gifts for fam ilies in need are particularly heartwarming at this time of year. Grant recipients were as follows: Habitat for Humanity South County (Ven ice): $10,000 toward building one duplex villa for two low-income families in Engle wood. iTN Sarasota: $5,000 to offset costs to pro vide seniors a low-cost and safe alternative to traditional public transportation. New College Foundation (Sarasota): $10,000 for the installation of professional grade lighting and digital recording equip ment in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion. Pines of Sarasota Foundation: $15,000 to complete the north entrance at the Pines campus to allow re and emergency vehi cles alternate access. Sarasota Military Academy: $10,000 to help furnish one complete academic classroom in the new building. Take Stock in Children of Sarasota County: $10,000 to support the Come Alive for 75 program scholarships through the Flor ida Prepaid Program. Venice Area Beautication: $5,000 to pur chase and install hanging ower baskets on downtown Venice streets. The following are holiday needs grants, with funds to be used for food and/or small gifts for families in need: All Faiths Food Bank (Sarasota): $30,000; Community Mobile Meals (Sarasota): $7,500; Laurel Civic Associ ation: $5,000; Mayors Feed the Hungry Cam paign (Sarasota): $3,000; Resurrection House (Sarasota): $5,000; Safe Place and Rape Cri sis Center (Sarasota): $5,000; St. Jude His panic-American Catholic Church (Sarasota): $5,000; Senior Friendship Centers, Sarasota (for Sarasota and Venice clients): $10,000; South Biscayne Baptist Church (North Port): $5,000; South County Food Pantry (Venice): $40,000; YMCA Children, Youth & Family Ser vices (Sarasota): $7,500. For the Season of Sharing Fund, which helps individuals and families on the verge of home lessness, $50,000 was awarded to those in need in Sarasota County. The Kathleen K. Catlin fund is administered by an advisory committee of Community Foun dation of Sarasota County. An open, competi tive grant cycle was available to organizations meeting qualications and guidelines of the fund, the release adds. For more information about the Communi ty Foundation, call 955-3000 or visit www. CFSarasota.org COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AWARDS $238,000 IN GRANTS

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 49 The City of Sarasota Finance Department recently was honored by the Government Finance Officers Association of the Unit ed States and Canada with two prestigious awards: the Distinguished Budget Presenta tion Award and the Certicate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, a city news release says. These achievements are impressive and un derscore the high caliber staff we have in the Finance Department, said City Manager Tom Barwin in the release. The city continues to face challenging nancial times and a presti gious peer recognition like this reafrms that we have a rst rate staff overseeing the citys nances, he added. The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award was given for the citys 2011 scal year. The budget met or exceeded guidelines in four categories: policy document, nancial plan, operations guide and communications device, the re lease notes. As the budget manager, Mi chelle Valentich was presented with the award. This is the 22nd consecutive year the city has received this honor, the news release points out. The Certicate of Achievement Mayor Suzanne Atwell (left) recognizes members of the citys Finance Department for winning prestigious honors. Photo courtesy City of Sarasota CITY OF SARASOTA FINANCE DEPARTMENT HONORED for Excellence in Financial Reporting was pre sented to Finance Director Chris Lyons for the 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. It is the highest form of recognition within governmental accounting and nancial report ing, the release adds. Receiving this award represents a signicant accomplishment by a governmental body and its management, the release notes. This is the 31st year in a row the City of Sara sota has been honored with the award. Many staff members were instrumental in re ceiving these awards, said Lyons in the news release. I would like to thank several employ ees for their contributions throughout the year: Kelly Strickland, deputy nance director; David Flatt, accounting and payroll systems manager; Dolores Gamble, accounting and payroll systems supervisor; Michelle Valen tich, budget manager; and Susan Dodd, assis tant to the nance director. Their dedication and commit ment make pro fessional hon ors like these possible. The City Com mission rec ognized the Finance De partment for these achieve ments during its last regular meeting in No vember. %

OPINION EDITORIAL A press conference held by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this week is only the latest episode in a tragic tale of institutionalized disdain for the homeless in Sarasota. Emails obtained under the Freedom of Infor mation Act, which were revealed by Michael Bareld, legal chairman for the local chapter, contained homeless-taunting exchanges be tween ofcers in the Sarasota Police Depart ment. Bum hunters were how these ofcers referred to one another. These revelations come on the heels of the forced resignation of Richard Martin as ex ecutive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, ostensibly because of threats of a reduction in funding to the orga FOR HOMELESS, SARASOTA IS A TOWN WITHOUT PITY nization by local foundations whose contrib utors objected to his efforts. Shortly after Martins ouster, a homeless person in Gillespie Park was arrested by an SPD ofcer for theft of utilities. The crime? Charging his cell phone in a public outlet in the park gazebo. The citys hostility toward the homeless is not a recent development. In 2006, the city was recognized as the meanest city in the nation toward the homeless by the National Coali tion for the Homeless. At the time, it was a crime for anyone including young children desiring to camp out in their backyards to sleep outdoors without a permit. The latest crackdown gathered momentum a few months back after the mayor stated in an open meeting of the City Commission that she was fearful to walk about downtown be

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 52 cause of the many homeless gathered there. The message was clear: Homeless equals dan gerous. In fact, the homeless typically are the neediest subset of the poor, unable even to keep roofs over their heads. And they are not a recent development. In prehistoric times, the Darwinian surviv al of the ttest meant that those unable to care for themselves perished. But with the rise of civilization, the means if not the will to care for the poor was at hand. Even Je sus rebuked the hard hearted of His day: [J] ust as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. The ACLU has been ghting the citys system atic persecution of the homeless in both the state courts and the court of public opinion, with reasonable if, unfortunately, some what Sisyphean success. A judge dismissed the case against the utili ties thief. And another judge recently ruled the citys trespassing prohibition which re ally was an anti-homeless ordinance was unconstitutional. Probably the most dedicated opponents to the homeless presence in downtown are those wealthy people who purchased condomini ums in the citys center, some costing upward of $500 per square foot. In their cloistered towers, these exclusionary individuals want no loud music, no noisy ve hicles and denitely no poor people milling about. In a perfect world, downtown Sarasota would be their private park and they appar ently have spared no effort to make it so. A nation or state or city is dened not by how luxuriously it accommodates its wealthiest citizens, but by how humanely it treats the least of these. Everyone in Sarasota, regard less of station, is equal in Gods eyes and de serving of dignity and respect. The homeless require assistance to over come previously insur mountable obstacles in their lives. The city, the county and the cit izens who are pros pering share in the re sponsibility to provide it. The ACLU has been ghting the citys systematic persecution of the homeless in both the state courts and the court of public opinion, with reasonable if, unfortunately, somewhat Sisyphean success. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Sarasota News Leader wel comes letters to the editor from its readers. Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and include the name, street address and telephone number of the writer. Letters should be emailed to Letters@SarasotaNewsLeader.com with Letter to the Editor in the subject line. Let ters actually printed will be selected based on space available, subject matter and oth er factors. We reserve the right to edit any letters submitted for length, grammar, spell ing, etc. All letters submitted become the property of The Sarasota News Leader.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 53 To the Editor: If you have a large dog that shows signs of any type of aggression, never let it out of your immediate control. Put a muzzle on it when it is outside the house. If you have a small dog, keep your dog close and be aware that it only takes a few seconds for tragedy to occur. Sandy and Todd Frauhiger drove into their ga rage in Osprey about 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 24. Sandy opened the car door and got out. Ca sey, their Cairn terrier, followed her. As San dy bent to pick up Casey to take her into the house, a large dog raced into the garage out of nowhere, with no sound and no eye contact, and attacked Casey in Sandys arms. The dog took Caseys whole head into its mouth. Sandy was screaming; Casey was squealing. Sandy could not pull the dogs jaws off Casey. Todd jumped from the car, grabbed the attack ing dogs collar and twisted it until the dog could not breathe. The dog released Casey. All of this happened within seconds. Sandy and Todd took Casey to the Sarasota Veterinary Emergency Center on U.S. 41. The wounds were deep and messy, because the at tacking dog had shaken Casey. All the wounds required stitches. She was put on an IV with wide-spectrum an tibiotics and other life-saving medications. A herculean effort was made by the doctors and technicians to save Casey. Casey later succumbed to massive infection and heart failure. The attacking dog belonged to nearby neigh bors. The dog was ne around people, but it had a history of aggression toward smaller dogs. It and other dogs the people own had escaped from the lanai and were roaming the neighborhood. They just happened to be there when Sandy and Todd pulled into their garage. The owners of the dog feel terrible. Animal Control has been notied. Lucena Winberg Sarasota Press Releases & News Tips News@SarasotaNewsLeader.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Art Center Sarasota and the Closets recent and nal collaborative Chrch!!! show on Sun day, Nov. 18, showcased a nexus of different artistic pathways, aesthetics and scenes to pa trons craving an evening of original artistic expression. The diverse array of visual pieces, live music, performance art, underground and popular art, politically charged pieces, abstract sculp tures and more were brought together at the Art Center to demonstrate a single idea: Flor ida has an art scene that stands on its own. Chief Exhibitions Coordinator Emma Thur good put together the visual art portion of the nights show. Between musical performances, she explained to The Sarasota News Leader that this was precisely her goal, not just for the particular event, but for the gallerys en tire season, which, she said, is focusing on the importance of Florida artists and how we have some really wonderful artists right here at home in Florida. In addition to limiting its attention to Florida artists, Thurgood explained that the Art Cen ters current season places a strong emphasis on Sarasota in particular. The simultaneous showing of the two main exhibitions, The Cu rated Unknowns: An Exhibition of Emerg ing Artists and Artists Who Made Sarasota Many of those in the audience, such as (from left) Mariel Purdon, Shannon Fortner of MeteorEYES and Ha Pham, are frequent patrons of live music and art shows in Sarasota. Photos by Arielle Scherr ART CENTER SARASOTA AND THE CLOSET TEAM UP FOR THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF CHRCH!!! WITH LOCAL MUSIC AND ART ARTISTS SHOWING OFF By Tyler Whitson Contributing Writer

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 56 Famous Part II: A Curated Exhibition of Sarasota Artists from 1962 to the Present unites two aspects of Sarasota culture that are not often seen together. The Curated Unknowns reects the under ground: college students, recent graduates and up-and-comers, many living on shoestring budgets, congregating, collaborating and en couraging each other in their respective pur suits. On the other side are the artists who have broken through in the past and whose works are known throughout the nation or the world as representing Sarasota. Asked if she thinks some of the artists in the unknown category will some day cross over into the famous category, Thurgood re sponded enthusiastically, I know that some of those artists are already on that journey and it will happen for them. Along with art pieces that represent the area, the Art Centers collaborations with Mike Mur phy of the Closet an organization that works to bring live music to the community and often acts as a liaison between local venues and mu sicians have presented Sarasota bands to audiences craving original compositions and energetic performances. The nal installment of Chrch!!! featured a number of popular Sara sota acts, with its lineup consisting of, from start to nish, the Other Ryan Willis, the SendOffs, Cassolette and MeteorEYES. Enhancing the ambiance of the venue, with its colored, motorized lights, lasers and mirrors, were the live projections accompanying the musical performances. Ringling College of Art and Design students Irene Garibay, Nelson Le dezma and Jose Carlos Zavarse Pinto huddled throughout the evening around a homemad e MeteorEYES concludes the evening with a performance featuring epic instrumentation, soulful vo cals and swirling electronic embellishments. Click to visit the MeteorEYES website and listen to their music.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 57 projector that they affectionately referred to as Frankie and a repurposed overhead projector, manipulating a number of found or homemade objects and raw materials, including strands of hair, glass lamp shades, colored Saran Wrap sheets, perfume bottles, magnifying glasses, stencils, dry erase markers and more. The re sult was a constantly metamorphosing splash of lights and shadows in the shapes of globules and polygons in colors that traversed the spec trum a unique sight that could not have been produced any other way. Garibay and her collaborators have been seen contributing this unique light show to musical performances around Sarasota over the past few months, a project they plan to continue. It just became an addiction, Garibay said, explaining the genesis of the idea to the News Leader Im always looking for something to project. In addition to the projection team and the musical acts, one of the artists whose work is on display in the Curated Unknowns ex hibition was present at the event. Between sets, S. Paul Matkowsky spoke with the News Leader briey about what it is like to be an artist working to attain increased recognition in Sarasota and the role of the Art Center in that process. If you want to get exposed and youre just emerging and you want to get involved with art, you have to go to the Art Center. Its the rst step, he said. Matkowsky went on to express his appreci ation for what the Art Center contributes to the Sarasota art scene. It seems like there is a need for something authentic of an artistic nature in Sarasota in general, and it seems like S. Paul Matkowsky stands with War Paint, one of his two pieces included in the Curated Unknowns exhibition, part of a body of work he described to The Sarasota News Leader as based on organic impulse and the parallel of nature and the human impulse.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 58 Untitled, by Dirce Kennedy, was part of the Its Political! all-media juried exhibition organized for the past election season and on display in the gallery where the musical acts were playing. This ex hibition also exclusively featured Florida artists.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 59 the Art Center is stepping up, he said. Ive been here for a few years and as time passes, I see the Art Center progressively getting more edgy, more progressive in many respects. Theyre making a lot of progress. Though that nights show concluded the Chrch!!! series, local musicians and fans need not worry that it means the end of live music at the Art Center. It was an experiment to do the Sunday series and, unfortunately, looking at the calendar, were not able to continue doing them every Sunday, Thurgood said. Weve decided that, from now on, it will just be individual events that will be happening, she continued. Thurgood emphasized Murphys role in curat ing the live music for events such as Chrch!!! and added that those who have enjoyed the series can look forward to more of these col laborations. Were really excited to showcase local bands, she said, explaining that the in spiration for that nights show and those com ing up is to give Sarasota residents plenty of opportunities to get local and get familiar with [their] hometown culture. The next collaboration between the Art Center and the Closet, with an as-of-yet unannounced musical lineup, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. Those who cannot wait until next year to see live music at the Art Center can attend the gal lerys next scheduled concert, Last Chance, First Dance featuring Another Roadside At traction, on Friday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. The Curated Unknowns and Artists Who Made Sarasota Famous Part II exhibitions will run until Dec. 7. % (From left) Jose Carlos Zavarse Pinto, Nelson Ledezma and Irene Garibay create kaleidoscopic pro jections using colored liquids, plant watering bulbs and other materials to augment the nights ener getic set by the Send-Offs.

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I like to take my time. Sure, its a temptation to rush. Each issue of The Sarasota News Leader is brimfull of in-depth coverage of all the news and goings-on in Sarasota County. And it has delightful and informative feature stories. Thanks to its partnership with This Week In Sarasota I always know what the most exciting happenings are each week. Plus, it is simply so beautiful, with photography that takes my breath away. There is so much there, I dont know where to begin. So it is hard to resist the urge to read it all at once. But I know better. Take your time and indulge in all that it has to offer. You have a whole week. SarasotaNewsLeader.com Old school journalism. 21st century delivery. The Progressive Voice of Southwest Florida

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ASK OTUS Dear Otus: You were so helpful and informative in your re sponse to my questions about our Red-Shoul dered Hawks, I am hoping you can enlighten me about some of our neighborhoods resi dent birds. We have at least one Great White Egret (or is it a White Heron?) that shows up regularly in our neighborhood during the fall and winter. I noticed him (her?) the other morning when I was leaving for a meeting. I thought of trying to stop and get a photo, but I also was afraid of disturbing it, because it seemed so intent on something in the ditch of my neighbor across the street. From time to time, I also notice this egret or one of its relatives eyeballing something in our oak tree. The egrets do not seem ner vous about our proximity as long as we do not try to get too close to them. In fact, I am enthralled by their level of concentration. First, are they known for their single-minded ness? Second, can you tell me exactly what they do eat, as I am uncertain what catches their attention in our oak. I look forward very much to your help. Ale xis THE LOVELY GREAT EGRETS HAVE QUITE THE ROBUST APPETITE, AS THE GREAT NATURALIST AUDUBON LEARNED These Great Egrets are heading to an oak to roost. File photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 62 Dear Alexis: Thank you for your interest in the wonderful birds inhabiting your neighborhood and for your inquiry into Ardea Alba the Great Egret, also known as Great White Egret, Common Egret, Large Egret or (mistakenly) the Great White Heron ( Ardea herodias occidentalis ). Your questions about its intense concentra tion while hunting and its adaptability to hu man environs brought to mind a wonderful account by John James Audubon of his expe riences with its cousin, the Great White Her on. Forgive this apparent digression, but the two species share the same characteristics: They do not display sexual dimorphism; Great Egrets hunt in classic Heron fashion, stand ing immobile or wading through wetlands to capture prey with deadly jabs of their yellow bills; and they both have fascinated early nat uralists and ornithologists because of their allover pristine white feathers. What you read here about the characteristics of the Great White Heron, which exists only on the Keys and in southernmost Florida, also applies to Ardea Alba Audubon had a very dear friend, the Rev. John Bachman, whom he met in 1831. Bachman then was already a respected naturalist and scientist. He would found Newberry College and he and Audubon would go on to collabo rate on the three-volume Viviparous Quadru peds of North America which is the superb mammal complement to Birds of America The friendship between the families was even closer after Audubons two sons married the two charming Bachman daughters. On April 24, 1832, Audubon and his expedi tion companions landed on Indian Key in the upper Florida Keys. Indian Key is again an un inhabited island so it is hard to believe that it was once the temporary county seat of Dade County after its separation in 1836 from Mon roe County. It was on Indian Key that Audu bon rst encountered the Great White Heron. In 1821, while in New Orleans, Audubon had completed his fabulous drawing of the exquisite Great Egret in breeding plumage, and nally he came across its rare cousin a larger, stockier bird, lacking aigrettes but bestowed with pristine white feathers and a gorgeous head plume during breeding season. Even Audubon could not distinguish between male and female. But it is not important that he or you could not tell them apart, only that the birds do! Audubon proved to the world that these birds bore white feathers throughout something other naturalists had long disputed. He also commented, just as you did, that some were easily approached and others ew off before he was even within a thousand meters of them. And guess what he did with the ones that were easily approachable? He captured a pair and took them all the way to Charles ton, S.C., and presented them as a gift to his host, Dr. Bachman. What better present from a houseguest? It speaks well of Dr. Bachman that he was simply enchanted by these exotic gifts. He al ready had quite an interesting menagerie of species, alive and not alive, meandering about his property and strewn about his home. Lack ing the Keys mangroves, the Heron pair be took themselves to roosting in a beautiful ar bour in his garden; where at night they looked with their pure white plumage like beings of another world. Well, they were of another world a very hungry avian world.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 63 Despite the Bachmans generous bucketful or gallon of mullet a day, the herons were observed like pointer dogs perched over gar den owers in the early morning hours, strik ing with a well-directed stroke of their bill at uttering moths and butteries and swal lowing them in great numbers. They also went after the Bachmans chickens and speared and ate them. Soon, the grounds being devoid of tasty poultry, these herons proceeded to hunt the pheasants, geese and ducks on the prop erty, which they would tear up and devour. Audubon also describes how the Bachmans cat, which was asleep in the sunshine, on the wooden steps of the veranda, was pinned through its body to the oor boards and killed and devoured by one of them. This slaughter continued for several months until the pickings on the Bachman property were pretty slim for this exotic pair of gour mands with their highly developed umami. It was then that Audubon noted, At last they began to pursue the younger children of my worthy friend, who therefore ordered them to be killed. Truthfully, as scholars are often themselves beings of another world, I believe the practi cal Mrs. Bachman, not the Rev. Bachman, per sonally saw to their disposal. One was careful ly preserved, stuffed and sent to the Museum of Charleston. As for its mate: I assume that Mrs. Bachman made a superb meal out of it. As Audubon commented, they are good eating if not too old. So, Alexis, I think that pretty much answers your question as to what they eat and why their attention is riveted on your oak tree: Ei ther your neighbors cat is stuck up there again or children are playing in their treehouse. Otus Manuel R. Chepote, LUTCF Chepote Insurance Inc. Al ls tate Agent 1300 Main Street Sarasota, Florida (941) 366-0100 Serving Sarasota & Manatee Counties Auto Home Life Renters Motorcycles Flood Business Annuities Financial Services agents.allstate.com/manuel-r-chepote-sarasota-.html Click to watch the latest TV ad Click for driving directions

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The weather was a bit nippier than usual for Siesta Key, but it did not deter the spectators who lined Beach Road and Ocean Boulevard on Nov. 24 to see the parade that kicked off the Light Up the Village event. The parade was awesome, Cheryl Gaddie, who helped coordinate the event, told The Sarasota News Leader I have not had a per son who has not said it was the best parade we ever had. Numbering 26 entries altogether, the oats and marching units represented an array of businesses and organizations. This year, the Jolly Old Elf himself arrived by boat instead of sleigh, before he took his appointed place in Siesta Center to hear the Christmas wishes of the children. As expected, Siesta Key Association Director Bob Waechter had his antique re engine in A new stove for Christmas has this chef smiling. CROWD WELCOMES THE HOLIDAY SEASON TO SIESTA KEY LIGHTING UP THE VILLAGE Staff Reports

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 65 Children of all ages watch for the next oat. ne form. It transported not only SKA mem bers but the islands representative on the Sarasota County Commission, Nora Patter son. The weather was a little colder than we would have liked to see it, Gaddie said. However, the crowd was so thick, she add ed, that deputies did not need to block off trafc along Canal Road leading to Ocean Boulevard; the throng of people made that unnecessary. Light Up the Village is the biggest annual event on the island sponsored by the Siesta Key Village Association. Editors note: The News Leader thanks SKA Director Peter van Roekens for his gallery of photos from the parade. %

Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 68 What would a parade be without pretty girls waving to the crowd? Siesta Key Association President Catherine Luckner (left) prepares to take her own photos of the parade from atop the re engine. Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson (in red) is among the SKA entrys passengers.

I recently had the great pleasure of partici pating in an educational opportunity at the Big Cat Habitat that was offered through the Sarasota County Technical Institute (SCTI). It was a class listed in SCTIs Adventure Pho tography category as a one-day learning op portunity under the heading, photography/ wildlife. The Big Cat Habitat is a sanctuary for lions, tigers and even bears, many of whom were rescued as very young animals. Kay Rosaire, who is the founder of this magnicent Garden of Eden, has been caring for these beautiful animals for more than 30 years. As we drove onto the grounds, we were wel comed by an assistant and told to wander around and enjoy seeing some of the regu lar farm inhabitants. We observed a cheetah, some llamas, many goats of all ages, a very old and immovable tortoise and a few bright, chatty birds. Then we were called into the big top area for our one-hour photo session. This was con ducted by Jason Hahn, a local wildlife photog rapher, who gave an excellent and informative presentation on capturing the best possible photos of dangerous and/or active animals in the wild. One of the Big Cat Habitats residents performs in a show on the grounds. Photo courtesy Richard Czina THANKS TO A SARASOTA COUNTY TECHNICAL INSTITUTE CLASS, STUDENTS GET TO PRESERVE EXTRA SPECIAL MEMORIES AT BIG CAT HABITAT CAPTIVATING CATS By Harriet Cuthbert Contributing Writer

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 74 Afterward, we were psyched and ready for our own personal photo shoot at Kays Habitat. We were escorted to a large area that faced the animals pens on the left and their play area directly in front of us. We were separated from the animals by only one metal fence, and as we lined up to nd our favorite photo op, we awaited our stars. As with any great performance, the curtain rose and the show began. Kays son, Clayton, appeared, accompanied by a magnicent or ange-and-black striped Bengal tiger named Conan. We were told that Clayton was raised A liga is a genetic mix of a tiger and a lion. Photo courtesy Richard Czina

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 75 Clayton Rosaire may be the animals trainer, but he seems to have a rm friendship with them. Photo courtesy Richard Czina

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 76 with these animals from his birth, and he has absolutely no fear of them. Watching them walk the grounds together, just like best friends, you believe that is true. To say our group of 16 was speechless is an understatement. It took me awhile to even lo cate my camera and remember to snap a pho to or two. Conan denitely wanted to show off his beauty, and he seemed to enjoy posing for us. Clayton nally told him play time was over, and they quietly walked back to the cages. After we caught our breath, our eyes practi cally popped as the next spectacular cats ap peared. Two white tigers, appropriately named Vanna and Barry, sauntered into the yard, with Clayton on the sidelines. As the cats frolicked in their pool and played with their large red rubber ball, you could see an expression of al most pure enjoyment on their gorgeous faces. Snacks offered by Clayton helped end their recess and ease their return to the pens. We were next amazed to see a liger a lion and tiger hybrid which seems to be fairly common nowadays. Mia the liger just loved posing and primping and preparing for the appearance of her king the lion, who abso lutely knew he was in total command of his kingdom; you could tell. To say he was spec tacular, as he sat so regally and aunted his perfect mane, is another understatement. And his bond with Clayton is miraculous to see. As the last animals departed and we began to leave, I think we all agreed that experiencing this wondrous day and feeling our own bond with these beautiful cats will remain with us for a long, long time. % This tiger appears a bit shy at the moment. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert He may have his tongue out, but he certainly doesnt appear to be making a rude gesture. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert Trainer Clayton Rosaire works with a lion. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert Among Big Cat Habitats residents are rare white tigers. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert

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Siesta Seen SIESTA WOMAN SETS UP LOST PET HOTLINE; COUNTYS COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGER DISCUSSES RESTORE ACT AND TURTLE BEACH A Siesta Key businesswoman has started a lost pet hotline to help owners and their crit ters reconnect when circumstances have con spired to separate them. Judi Moore, the nancial advisor at Edward Jones in Siesta Village, says this is her way of giving back to the community. She announced the project during the Sies ta Key Village Association meeting on Nov. 6, pointing out that she has an email address, cell phone number and a Facebook page for people to let her know about missing pets or to report dogs and cats that obviously have found themselves far from their owners and homes. That very day, Moore told me this week, she received an email letting her know about a young Rottweiler that had been found on the island. Peter van Roekens, vice president of the Sies ta Key Association and the Terrace East rep resentative at the SKVA meetings, had notied Moore about the animal, he said. Van Roekens and SKVA President Russell Mat thes both applauded Moore for her efforts af ter her comments at the SKVA meeting. Thank you for doing that, Matthes told her. Thats awesome. Moore used the email addresses she already had accumulated for the program to dissemi nate the information about that dog. No one ever stepped forward to claim owner ship of the Rottweiler, she added, but he has been adopted. One big key to the success of her program, she says, is gathering enough email address es to create a broad network for assistance. She encourages pet lovers to email her at judi. moore@earthlink.net to add their names to the list. She asks that they put pet hotline in the subject line. Getting the network built is extremely im portant, Moore pointed out. It really needs to be known island-wide. People also may stop in her ofce at 5112 Ocean Blvd., in Davidson Plaza in Siesta Vil By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 78 she said, SKA President Catherine Luckner has been working with her. Anyone who regularly attends SKA meetings knows Luckner and her husband, Bob, are true animal lovers as well. They have helped spread the word themselves in past cases in volving missing or found pets. The SKA will meet at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, in Room F at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road. lage, to learn more about the program. I have information here all about it, she said. The cell phone number for reporting lost or found pets is 941-749-5665. The Facebook page is Siesta Key Lost Pet Hotline Were trying to get the word out, Moore said: If theres [an animal that is] lost, well be looking. Moore will make a presentation on the pro gram during the Dec. 6 SKA meeting. Already, Speaking of the SKA: Laird Wreford, the coast al resources manager for Sarasota County, was the guest speaker at the Nov. 1 meeting of the association. Wrefords main topic was the RESTORE Act how funds from the federal governments settlement with BP over the Deepwater Hori zon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are going to be funneled to the affected states. When he made his remarks, Wreford was anticipating a federal settlement ranging be tween $5 billion and $20 billion with a b, he stressed. The truth of the matter, he said, was that signs indicated the nal number would be closer to the higher gure. That was not how things worked out, how ever. On Nov. 15, news came that the federal government and BP had settled on a gure of $4.5 billion. THOSE BP DOLLARS Sarasota County Coastal Resources Manager Laird Wreford explains the RESTORE Act to members of the Siesta Key Association. Photo by Rachel Hackney

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 79 the state consortium that is dealing with the RESTORE Act, he noted that county ofcials were upset at the news Gov. Rick Scott want ed to insert himself into the process by nam ing the chairman of the group and appointing members. I thought the Civil War was going to break out, Wreford said. The county representa tives grabbed their clubs and pitchforks and made a stance of counties rights. County and state ofcials earlier had said Sarasota County could expect between $5 million and $20 million, based on the original estimate of the settlement range, thanks to the way the funds will be divvied up among the 23 affected Florida counties. Therefore, it is reasonable to think our county will be netting less than $5 million at this point. Wreford was in ne humor that afternoon during the SKA meeting. In fact, when he talked about attending a recent meeting of After Wreford completed his RESTORE Act presentation, SKA President Luckner gave Di rector Ron Flynn the opportunity to ask about the situation at Turtle Beach. Flynn said he was concerned about some se vere scalloping, adding he was fearful that someone in the adjacent county-operated RV park would start to stroll down the beach one evening and nd himself taking a long tum ble into the Gulf of Mexico. Probably seven to eight feet of the beach has disappeared, Flynn noted. Wreford had seen the photos Flynn had sent to County Commissioner Nora Patterson, which clearly showed the problem, he said. Along with that scalloping, Wreford noted, at the southernmost part of the beach, that water is about ready once again to crash up against the house. TURTLE BEACH EROSION Wreford explained that county staff is working already on the design and permitting phase of the rst renourishment of the project since sand was added to Turtle Beach in 2007. That is a lengthy process, Wreford added, but the permitting has become at least more streamlined than it was Weve been hear ing from our counterpart agencies that their permitting efforts have, in fact, been less cum bersome than they were before. He was referring to working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He quickly added that instead of three years, the permitting probably could be nalized in two years. Staff had told the County Commission the goal was to start renourishing the beach after sea turtle-nesting season ends in the fall of 2014, Wreford added. We are still shooting for that goal.

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 80 We have had some procurement problems, he continued, but staff felt the goal still was a reasonable one. In the meantime, Wreford said, he also had learned that as long as the county did not use heavy equipment, it probably could send a crew out to Turtle Beach and knock the es carpment down. He was hoping that could be accomplished in the next several days, he added. Men with shovels and light equipment should be able to complete that job, Wreford contin ued, because of the relatively non-compact, relatively soft sand. However, when I contacted Flynn this week about whether the work had been done, he sent the following note by email: To answer your question, I am not aware of any action by the County to level the dropoff as requested, but they may have. There has been much wave action driven by north west winds that keep changing the scalloping (drop-off) of the beach sand. Wreford had tried contacting Parks and Rec reation Manager George Tatge for me, as well, to learn if any work had been done. Tatge had not responded by our News Leader deadline this week. People walking along Turtle Beach stop to look at the severe scalloping, part of which was linked to Tropical Storm Debbys wave and wind action in June. Photo courtesy Ron Flynn A photo taken on Nov. 29 shows the scalloping issue at Turtle Beach has not been remedied. Photo courtesy Ron Flynn

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 81 Stylist Julie handled the honors. Trish said all that remained was for her to send the tresses to Locks of Love. Abbys gesture should inspire all of us to think about less fortunate people, especially at this time of year. Nine-year-old Abby Ivey, daughter of my col league Trish Ivey and her husband, David Ivey and granddaughter of longtime Pelican Press editor Anne Johnson decided earli er this month to do something wonderful for someone else. Having heard about the nonprot organization Locks of Love which provides hairpieces to nancially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term hair loss as a result of medical treatments, Abby went to Sassy Hair on Siesta Key to get 10 inches of her long blonde hair cut off. FOR A GOOD CAUSE Abby Ivey poses with her long locks before getting them cut for charity. Contributed photo Abby Ivey and Julie at Sassy Hair on Siesta Key show off Abbys shorter hairstyle. Con tributed photo SKVA MEETING Not only will the SKA meet next week, but the Village Association also will have its regular meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at the Daiquiri Deck Raw Bar, 5250 Ocean Blvd. %

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The multi-platinum recording artist and multi-Grammy Award-winner Michael Bolton will return to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30, the Van We zel has announced. Bolton is one of the few vocalists who can lay claim to a catalogue of songs that truly falls under the realm of timeless, a news re lease notes. With a musical career spanning almost 40 years, Bolton has had a slew of hit singles such as When a Man Loves a Woman ; How Am I Supposed to Live Without You ; Time, Love and Tenderness ; How Can We Be Lov ers ; and Georgia on my Mind the release points out. He has also had the opportunity to perform with artists as diverse as Luciano Pavarotti and BB King, showing that he is not only sought after by his listeners, but also by his peers, the release adds. Tickets are priced from $30 to $100. For more information, call the box ofce at 953-3368 or visit www.VanWezel.org % Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Bolton will take the stage at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Nov. 30. Contributed photo MICHAEL BOLTON TO RETURN TO THE VAN WEZEL ARTS BRIEFS

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 83 From Sarasota to Tuscany an exhibit of pas tels and oils painted by artist Nancy Goff, will be on display from Dec. 6 through Jan. 30, 2013 at The Womens Resource Center, 340 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota. An artists reception and opening will be held on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. The pub lic is invited; refreshments will be served. Whether it is a statue at Butler Gardens or the light in a Tuscan alley, Goff captures beauti ful and peaceful moments in her vibrant oil and pastel paintings, a news release says. Goff attributes her sense of composition and use of color to her commercial background, Hanging Out in Tuscany will be among the pastels and oils by Nancy Goff on display starting Dec. 6 at the Womens Resource Center in Sarasota. Contributed photo SARASOTA TO TUSCANY EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT CENTER the release adds. She focuses on the light in her oils and pastels, pointing out in the re lease, My art is symbolic of my attitude and view of the world. I want my audience to feel the same comfortable optimism that I do. An upstate New York artist, Goff also teaches at Art Center Manatee, The Art Center at Long boat Key and Art Center Sarasota and gives private lessons during the winter months, the news release notes. Goff is a member of the prestigious Pastel So ciety of America, based in New York City. Her work is displayed internationally. For more information, call the center at 366-1700. %

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 84 lation due to weather will be posted on the website, www.HermitageArtistRetreat.org Since they began a few years ago, our beach readings have grown to be one of our most popular programs, explained Bruce E. Rod gers, the Hermitage Artist Retreats executive director, in the news release. Typically, we have two or three a year. Its a wonderful op portunity to open our otherwise closed cam pus for the public to tour; we feature incred ible writers who read from their work and Mother Nature provides the grand nale sun set. If this isnt the best way to end a day or begin a weekend, I dont know what is! And its free. Regarding the three writers who will be fea tured on Nov. 30, the news release notes that Parker is the author of the novel Ovenman The Hermitage Artist Retreat has announced that its rst beach reading of the season will feature three writers Jeff Parker, an Amer ican novelist and short story writer; Tony Hoagland, an award-winning American poet and essayist; and Rodrigo Garcia Lopes, a Bra zilian poet, songwriter, journalist and ction writer. The event will take place on Friday, Nov. 30. The campus will open to the public at 4 p.m. for tours of the historic buildings; the beach readings will commence at 5 p.m., followed by Mother Natures spectacular gulf front sun set, a news release adds. The event is free. Visitors are encouraged to bring beach chairs and any refreshments. The Hermitage Artist Retreat is located at 6660 Manasota Key Road in Englewood. Cancel Tony Hoagland/Contributed photo BEACH READING TO FEATURE POETS, NOVELIST

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 85 and the short story collection The Taste of Penny His work has appeared in American Short Fiction, The Best American Nonre quired Reading, Ploughshares, The Walrus, Tin House and others. His nonction book Igor in Crisis will be published in 2013. Parker, who grew up in Tallahassee earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Florida He then attended the prestigious creative writing program at Syra cuse University, where he graduated with an M.F.A. in creative writing in 1999. He serves as a faculty member at the Universi ty of Toronto and also runs the Low Res Writ ing Program at the University of Tampa. Hoagland is the author of three volumes of poetry: Sweet Ruin winner of the Britting ham Prize in Poetry; Donkey Gospel winner of the James Laughlin Award of The Acade my of American Poets; and What Narcissism Means to Me as well as a collection of essays about poetry, Real Sostikashun His poems and critical essays have appeared widely in journals and anthologies such as American Poetry Review, Poetry Magazine and Ploughshares, the news release notes. Hoagland is the winner of the 2005 O.B. Hardi son Jr. Prize, which is awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library; it is the only national prize to recognize a poets teaching as well as his art, the news release points out. Garcia Lopes comes to the Hermitage through its partnership with the University of Iowa In ternational Writing Program. An accomplished poet, songwriter, journalist, ction writer and translator from Brazil, he has published ve collections of poetry, including Solarium (1994), Polivox (2001) and Nmada (2004). His poems, essays and interviews have been widely published and included in anthologies such as Os Cem Melhores Poemas Brasileiros do Sculo 20 ( The Best 100 Brazilian Poems of the Twentieth Century ), the news release adds. His second CD, Canes do Estdio Realidade ( Songs from Reality Studio ), a new book of poems and his rst novel, the detective story O Trovador ( The Troubadour ) are set to be released in 2013. He translates from English and from French. A freelance journalist and translator, he co-edits the arts magazine Coy ote and performs his poems and songs regu larly around Brazil. For more information about the beach reading or The Hermitage Artist Retreat, call 475-2098 or visit the website % Jeff Parker/Contributed photo Rodrigo Garcia Lopes/Contributed photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 86 The Dabbert Gallery, located at 76 S. Palm Ave. in Sarasota, will present its new exhibit, Lasting Impressions beginning Dec. 7. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. The exhibit will continue through Dec. 31. This show features 10 artists whose compel ling work will inspire generations of artists and collectors, a news release notes. The artists are Robert Baxter, Craig Ruba doux, Candace Knapp, William Suys, Nancy Turner, Allan Teger, Russell Woody, Gert Ol sen, Thyra Davidson Wexler and Jeff Cornell. For more information, visit www.dabbertgal lery.com or call 955-1315. % Evening Calm Siesta Beach is an oil painting by William Suys. Contributed photo DABBERT GALLERY TO FEATURE LASTING IMPRESSIONS After the Bath is a bronze work by Thyra Davidson Wexler. Contributed photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 87 The Sarasota-Manatee Bach Festival will launch its 2012-2013 season with the rst of its three-concert series A Baroque Christmas to be presented Friday, Dec. 7, at the Church of the Redeemer in downtown Sarasota, and Sunday, Dec. 9, at Christ Church in Bradenton. Both programs will begin at 8 p.m. Festival Artistic Co-Directors Dr. Richard Benedum of Christ Church and Dr. Ann Ste phenson-Moe of Redeemer will give pre-con cert talks beginning at 7:15 p.m., discussing the works to be performed and giving insights into the music of J.S. Bach arguably the worlds nest church musician and a prolic composer whose work is rich with intellectu al depth and emotional inspiration, a news release says. A Baroque Christ mas will feature Jennifer Best and Christopher Take da, assistant and associate principal violinists with the Sarasota Orchestra, performing Bachs Double Violin Con certo in D Minor A small, select cho ral ensemble will present excerpts from Bachs Christ mas Oratorio and his Cantata 40 also written for the Christmas season, the release points out. The Sarasota Young Voices, the areas out standing childrens choir, and organist Mary Mozelle, will also perform. Sixteen-year-old Pine View School junior, vi olinist Natasha Snyder, and her teacher, Lena Cambis, director of the Sarasota Music Acad emy, will be featured in Arcangelo Corellis well-known Christmas Concerto Born in Bra zil, Snyder has studied violin since the age of four, the news release points out. Winner of the Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artist Con certo Competition in 2009, she made her pro fessional debut at the Neel Performing Arts Center, accompanied by the Sarasota Orches tra, at the age of 13. Natasha is certainly one of the most talented young musicians in the entire area, and the Bach Festival is very proud to have her be part of the coming concert, said Bene dum in the release. The Corelli Concer to Natasha is playing will be very familiar to many listeners, so the audience will really be able to fo cus on her interpre tation of this wellknown Baroque classic, he added. Tickets are $20 or $5 for students. Advance online purchase for both concert locations Mary Mozelle/Contributed photo A BAROQUE CHRISTMAS TO BE PRESENTED DEC. 7 AND 9

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 88 is available at www.redeemersarasota.org ; by calling or visiting either church; and via regular mail per instructions at www.saraso ta-manateebachfestival.org Subject to avail ability, tickets will also be sold at the door on the day of each concert. The Church of the Redeemer is located at 222 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota; for more information, call 955-4263. Christ Church is located at 4030 Manatee Ave. West, Bradenton; for more infor mation, call 747-3709. The December concerts will be followed in the new year with Hearing Bachs Music Bachs Way concerts in January (12 and 13) and Feb ruary (8 and 9), featuring Baroque chamber music performed on period instruments. For details, visit www.sarasota-manateebach festival.org More about both concerts and churches may be found at www.redeemersara sota.org and www.christchurchswa.org The Bach Festival is the only organization to present historically informed performances, performed on authentic instruments, to Sara sota and Bradenton audiences, the news re lease points out. % Jennifer Best/Contributed photo Natasha Snyder/Contributed photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 89 Orchestra when its former leader, Dick John son, was on hiatus. The Billy Marcus Trio features Marcus on pia no, Mark Neuenschwander on bass and Steve Bucholtz on drums. Marcus has played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, The Bill Evans Trio, The Horace Silver Quintet, McCoy Tyner, May nard Ferguson, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rol lins, the release adds. In 1982, he was named Miamis Best Musician by Miami/South Flor ida Magazine. He is a regular performer at jazz festivals around the world, the release notes. Finishing out the month of concerts, the Marc Maninno Jazz Quartet consists of Maninno on guitar, George Mancini on trombone, John Miller on bass and Bob Lunergan on drums. Maninno is the director of jazz studies at the State College of Florida; he also teaches jazz guitar, jazz history and jazz improvisation at the school. Additionally, he is the conductor of the SCF Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo. For more information about the Jazz Club of Sarasota, call 366-1552 or visit www.jazz clubsarasota.com % The Jazz Club of Sarasotas Jazz at Two 20122013 concert series continues during the holi day season with the Terry Myers Quartet (Dec. 7); the Billy Marcus Trio (Dec. 21); and Marc Maninno (Dec. 28), the club has announced. The series, which was founded in 2001, show cases the regions top jazz performers on Fri days from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Uni versalist Church of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, a news release notes. Tickets are $7 for Jazz Club members and $12 for non-members. A portion of ticket sales is directed to the Jazz Clubs scholarship pro gram. The Terry Myers Quartet consists of Myers on saxophone, Jeff Phillips on keyboards and bass pedals and Dave Pruyn on drums. Con sidered one of the nations top reed players, Myers has performed with the Tommy Dors ey Orchestra, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Ray Charles, Chubby Jackson, Louis Bellson, Bob Haggart, Jake Hanna and Butch Miles, the news release says. He also led the Artie Shaw The Billy Marcus Trio will perform Dec. 21./Contribut ed by the artist The Terry Myers Quartet will present a concert on Dec. 7./Con tributed by the group Marc Mannino and his quartet will perform on Dec. 28./Contributed by the group JAZZ CLUB ANNOUNCES DECEMBER JAZZ AT TWO CONCERTS

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 90 Florida Studio Theatre will present the region al premiere of The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain beginning Friday, Dec. 7, with preview performances on Dec. 5 and 6, the theatre has announced. This powerful drama exposes the poison of prejudice and explores how two polarized in dividuals can overcome their differences, a news release says. The Best of Enemies will open in FSTs re modeled Gompertz Theatre, located at 1247 First St. in down town Sarasota. Inspired by the book of the same name by Osha Gray Davis, The Best of Enemies is based on a provoc ative true story, the news release notes. In 1971, a high-rank ing member of the Ku Klux Klan is pit ted against an Afri can-American Civil Rights activist over the desegregation of schools. A strange and transformative relationship devel ops between the two as they nd common ground based on their love and concern for their children and their struggles as working class families, the release adds. The play invites the audience to look back at the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Amer ica, examining the progress that has been made in the last 40 years as well as the ways in which the struggle continues, the release notes. The cast includes returning Florida Studio Theatre actors Shefeld Chastain, Stephanie Weeks and Kevyn Morrow. New to FST, Aman da Duffy rounds out the cast. Tickets are on sale through Jan. 27, 2013; they may be pur chased online at Flor idaStudioTheatre.org by phone at 366-9000 or by visiting the box ofce. The Green Room Caf will be open begin ning Dec. 5 for preshow dining and postshow cocktails and light bites. FST Main stage patrons may en joy fresh baked FST favorites as well as new additions to the menu. Dinner reserva tions are required and may be made by con tacting the box ofce at 366-9000 or going online at FloridaStu dioTheatre.org % The Florida Studio Theatre marquee an nounces the upcoming show, Best of Ene mies. Photo by Norman Schimmel BEST OF ENEMIES TO OPEN DEC. 7 IN NEW FST THEATRE

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 91 Plans are in the works for the sixth annual Ovation, a Lakewood Ranch festival that cel -ebrates the regions cultural assets with free live performances.Event organizers are extending an open in -vitation to area non-prot and performance groups that wish to participate in the 2013 event, a news release notes.Ovation will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. along Main Street in downtown Lakewood Ranch. Drawing on the success of last years event, the festival will once again showcase performances from a variety of lo -cal school groups, musicians, dancers, chorus groups, drama teams and more, the release says. Those interested in participating may nd applications online at www.lwrevents. com or at the SMR Headquarters ofce at 14400 Covenant Way, Lakewood Ranch. The application deadline is Jan. 17, 2013.Event sponsorships are also still available, the release points out.Ovation is the only event of its kind in South -west Florida, the release adds, drawing at -tendees from the Tampa Bay area as well as cities to the south, including Naples and Fort Myers. Ofcials estimate 3,000 people turned out for the 2012 festival; they are expecting to exceed that number next year, the release adds.As a community-wide celebration of cultural arts, Ovation is a free event, both for attend -ees and participants, the release says. There are no parking or admission fees, and all the shops and restaurants along Main Street are open. Each participating nonprot group has a designated table where it can advertise up -coming seasons, sell tickets for future events and recruit new members and patrons, the re -lease notes.Among the highlights from this years festival were entertainment provided by the Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Opera, Manatee Players, Lake -wood Ranch High School Silver Stars dance team, Florida Studio Theatre, The Players and Sarasota Dance Academy. %PREPARATIONS UNDER WAY FOR SIXTH ANNUAL OVATIONSarasota painter John-Norman Tuck will be the featured guest at a Meet the Artist event on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at The Inn at Sarasota Bay Club.John-Norman Tuck is a master colorist who paints and shares his interpretations with an unabashed joy of life and exuberant appreci -ation for the beauty of nature and oral ex -pression, designer Ann Hall says in a news release. I enjoy his paintings as a profession -al and treasure them as a collector, she adds.Tuck will talk with guests from 2 to 5 p.m. at the The Inn at Sarasota Bay Club.The Inn is located at 1303 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. %TUCK TO MEET THE PUBLIC AT SARASOTA BAY CLUB EVENT

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The Church of the Redeemer 222 S. Palm Ave. in downtown Sarasota, will begin its annual offering of midday Advent organ recitals on Wednesday, Dec. 5, with guest organist Neil Page, music minister of St. Boniface Episco pal Church on Siesta Key. The recitals begin shortly after noon, at 12:10 p.m., and end promptly at 12:40 p.m., the church has announced. Each Wednesday throughout Advent, guest organists and musicians perform a 30-minute organ recital on Redeemers massive 50-stop Nichols & Simpson pipe organ, providing a brief but welcome weekday respite during the hectic holiday season, a church news re lease says. The recitals are free, with offerings accepted. Every member of the community is invited to come, perhaps rst enjoying a brown bag lunch on one of the several bench es throughout the gardens and verandah, and then listening to the music of the Advent sea son, the release adds. Following Pages recital on Dec. 5, Faith Lu theran Church organist Michael Stuart will perform on Dec. 12. The nal recital will be presented on Dec. 19, featuring Redeemers own organist/choirmaster, Ann Stephen son-Moe, who will be joined in the perfor mance by Daniel Mendelow, the former principal trumpet for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. For more information, visit www.redeem ersarasota.org or call 955-4263 % The Church of the Redeemer is located on South Palm Avenue. Photo by Norman Schimmel MIDDAY ORGAN RECITALS TO BE PRESENTED AT REDEEMER RELIGION BRIEFS Prior to the Advent season organ recitals, members of the community are invited to enjoy brown bag lunches in the gardens of The Church of the Redeemer / Contributed

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 93 On Saturday, Dec. 1, at 10:30 a.m., the Con gregation for Humanistic Judaism will host a Chanukah service and party with the theme Come on Along a celebration of the life and music of Irving Berlin, one of Americas most popular, prolic and patriotic songwriters. The program will be presented by Carol Kaufman, who will discuss Berlins life from a Russian shtetl to New Yorks lower east side and on to Broadway, Hollywood and beyond. Temple Emanu-El hosted its sixth annual Friendship Luncheon with St. Martha Catho lic Church on Nov. 17. The event demonstrat ed the enduring relationship between the two congregations, which also unite every spring for the interfaith Feast of Abraham celebra tion. About 100 guests attended the lively luncheon, which began as Temple Emanu-El Social Ac tion Co-Chairwoman Emily Tennenbaum introduced Rabbi Brenner J. Glickman; St. Marthas spiritual leader Father Fausto Stam piglia; and Temple Emanu-El President Mi chael Richker. After blessings and greetings, attendees en joyed a delicious Italian lunch catered by Word of Mouth, a Temple news release says. The festive decorations, tablecloths and ta ble settings prepared by event chairwoman Lorraine Glixon and Social Action Committee members reected the Italian theme, the release adds. Following the meal and socializing, Thom as Solomon of the Crime Prevention Unit of the City of Sarasota Police Department pre CHANUKAH CELEBRATION TO PUT A FOCUS ON IRVING BERLIN For the past several years, Kaufman has given orchestra pre-concert talks at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and other local venues, a news release says. The program is free and open to the public. The Congregation for Humanistic Judaism meets at Unity, 3023 Proctor Road in Sarasota. For more information, visit www.chj-Sarasota. org or call 929-7771. % TEMPLE EMANU-EL, ST. MARTHAS UNITE FOR FRIENDSHIP LUNCHEON (From left) Annabelle Wolter, Rabbi Brenner Glickman and Lorraine Glixon enjoy the fel lowship of the Friendship Luncheon. Contrib uted photo

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Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 Page 94 sented a program about the importance of people being aware of and protecting them selves from violence in the community. Solo mon explained that violence is more than just criminal action; the denition includes acts as disparate as breaking into a home or busi ness, road rage, purse snatching and physical abuse, he pointed out. The issue of violence in the home and commu nity was the subject of roundtable discussions after Solomons talk. Temple Emanu-El and St. Martha Catholic Church members decided to create an interfaith committee and work to gether in an effort to reduce the amount of vi olence in the area, the news release adds. This committee will meet after the winter holidays. For more information about social action and interfaith programs at Temple Emanu-El call 371-2788. % (From left) Michael Richker, Father Fausto Stampiglia, Rabbi Brenner Glickman and Father Pat rick Wilson are all smiles at the luncheon. Contributed photo

Each week, Staff Photographer Norman Schimmel searches Sarasota County for iconic shots that underscore why the community is a favorite with residents and tourists alike. SCHIMMEL SIGHTINGS I THINK I SPY SOME DINNER! SCHIMMEL SIGHTINGS